Super Mario Continuance
by ENFProductions
Summary: Taking place after the events of (Mario) The Music Box ARC, Riba Aduraice is a man of many sins. However, he has finally been able to confide trust in another named Mario. But when Mario dies, how can Riba bring back the one he loves the most? Perhaps a little black cat named Len has the answer. Together, they set off on a familiar journey to re-achieve the love of your life.


**Super Mario Continuance**

**by ENF**

Recap: Mario the Music Box + ARC

Long ago, a woman named Alice killed all the members of her family, on the devil, Riba's, accord. Riba was a psychotic man, who only loved seeing others in pain. Years later, the hero of the Mushroom Kingdom, Mario, had visited the mansion in search of answers. He found an experience unlike any other, and not in a good way. It had to have been the worst experience of his life. There, he came across the spirits of those who died in the mansion, and was possessed by Alice. Later, he had met Riba himself.

Upon meeting this strange man, Mario had become friends with him for a short while, until Riba regained his lost memories of the events taking place in the home. He had attacked Mario, who found himself back in the house when he woke up. Upon meeting up with Luigi, who had been searching for Mario in the home, Mario and Luigi escaped the house. However, under Alice's influence, Mario had stabbed Luigi and escaped back into the mansion.

Mario, regaining his free will for a fleeting moment, met up with Princess Toadstool, "Peach", and had murdered her as well, under Alice's influence of course. Upon escaping the house, Mario reunited with Riba. Together, they delved deeper into the mystery of the house, bringing them to the ghost town of Evangeline, where a new adventure in the vein of the last was born.

Throughout their quest, Mario showed Riba true friendship and companionship, something Riba had been lacking throughout these lonely centuries. He returned it, saving Mario's life in return. He truly cared about him.

At a standstill with Marchionne Evangelisti, Mario's distant pre-iteration, Alice had chosen to save Mario's life and leave his body in an eternal conflict with Marchionne. However, she left Mario with a sickness. One that would end his life very soon. Today, I will tell you the story that unfolds soon after. This is the story of Continuance.

Chapter 1: Life in The Countryside

**1580, Pre-Mushroom Kingdom**

There was once a man named Abir Toadstool. He lived in a small town called Myceliumalia. The reason the town was named this was because the island it was founded on looked just like a mushroom. He lived a simple life as a farmer. Day and night he would tend to the animals and crops, his loyal Yoshi there by his side.

He was a tall man with dirty blonde hair. The man was born to a poor family that couldn't support a child, so he was sent to a wealthy family that had everything he needed. When he was 20, he was kicked out because the family was angry with his stay. They were also very disgusted by his birth defect, which left him with a red gemstone in his chest. He met his Yoshi in the countryside when it was just a baby, and founded the very farm he still runs to this day.

Every now and then, somebody would pass by for meat, veggies, or a carton of milk. Everybody loved Abir and his farm. The Yoshi helped too. One day, he met a young woman named Penelope Fishington. She had come from the Lake Kingdom, from another continent, to start a new life in a new country. She visited the farm for wheat so she could make bread for her children. Sadly, she was a single mother. But when Abir laid his eyes on her, he started to feel his heart beating and his palms getting sweaty. His cheeks felt like they were burning. He was in love.

She was a young lady of the New Donker species with scarlet hair, green eyes, and a slim figure. When she smiled, it lit up Abir's world, cleansing any sort of worry in his mind. Every few days, she would come back to Abir's farm for various things, like pork chops, eggs, and once, even, a whole horse (for the purpose of riding back and forth from the farm). And every visit, the two got closer and closer. Until one day, Abir confessed his odd emotions. He didn't know what he was feeling. It felt strange, but somehow right. Penelope understood what he meant and offered him love in return.

In time, Abir was accepted into the Fishington family, as Penelope's sweetheart, with a little hesitation from the kids. Penelope's family was also poor, and had been chased off from the Lake Kingdom shortly after her previous relationship ended, due to most of the population there being wealthy. That, along with the fact that they were a completely different species from everyone else, made the native Lochladies loathe them. They simply did not belong there in their eyes.

Abir offered the Fishingtons a home at the farm, as they hardly had any money and their current home could be foreclosed at any moment. They happily agreed, and moved all of their belongings to the farm. The children, Vanilla and Vanity, loved it. They loved the animals, their new home, and especially the Yoshi. They named him Spotty. Abir and Penelope could not afford a wedding, but they were happy just having each other and the children.

"Mmm," Abir murmured, as he set his fork down on his plate. It was evening, and the sun had set over the mountains that surrounded their quaint little valley. He had expected to be underwhelmed by the food that he and his entire family had prepared as a team, but was pleasantly surprised by the exact opposite.

"Do you like it, dad?" Vanilla asked, shyly. She was still not quite used to this new man in their family.

"It's wonderful," Abir said. "Thank you for helping, children. Vanity. Stop playing with your food."

Vanity, right after swallowing a mouthful of mashed potatoes, stuck out her tongue and blew a raspberry towards Abir. She was very childish and... assertive? She had taken an instant liking to Abir at his arrival. When Abir looked down at his plate, he found it was gone. He looked around for the culprit, and saw Spotty hiding under the table. The shape of a plate protruded from the inside of his mouth. Abir chuckled.

"You fed Yoshi today, didn't you?" Penelope asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Of course I did. And his name's Spotty, remember?" Abir asked. He raised an eyebrow in return. Then the other, repeating for a while. Penelope laughed.

"You goofball!" She laughed. She put her mouth near his ear and whispered "I love you."

One night, Abir woke up to the sound of gunshots. Terrified, he ran downstairs. Penelope and the kids were still asleep upstairs, but Spotty had followed him. When he looked at the front door, it was ajar with the lock broken. Robbers. They were somewhere in the home.

Abir and Spotty searched the entire lower floor, and found nothing. It was only when Abir heard loud footsteps going up the stairs when his heart sank. His pupils shrank, and sweat rolled down his forehead. He opened the knife drawer and grabbed a large knife he used for butchering animals. He ran up the stairs.

He followed the footsteps into Penelope's bedroom, where he saw a figure among the dark. Instinctively, he repeatedly stabbed the figure. In and out the knife went. He could feel the warm blood splatter onto his hands. Then, the figure fell dead. He let out a sigh of relief and turned on the lights.

His heart nearly stopped beating. On the floor was the lifeless body of Penelope, with multiple stab wounds to the chest. Blood pooled around her, soaking into the carpet. He had made a grave mistake. He thought he had attacked the robbers, but instead he had stabbed his own love to death. He dropped the knife, unaware of the world around him. Then, a single gunshot from the kid's room brought him back.

Abir picked up his butcher's knife once again. For a second, he looked at the blood on the knife. The knife he had just killed the love of his life with. It felt horrible to hold it once again. But this was his only hope to save his children. They were all he had left now, besides Spotty. He didn't want to even look at the knife anymore, but it had to be done. It's what she would have wanted. With a desperate war cry, tears flowing from his eyes, he ran to the kid's room. He rose the knife high in the air, ready to make whoever was behind this suffer. Another gunshot from behind interrupted his retribution. He felt a sharp pain in his torso. As he reached for the wound, he felt blood spilling out. His vision began to blur. Instead of finding his attacker, he simply shambled along to the kid's room to save his children. He knew he was going to die. But if he could just reach the room, He could let them live on.

Another gunshot. The pain was unbearable. Abir fell to the ground, right at the doorway to the children's room. Out of the corner of his vision, he saw the bloody corpse of Spotty on the ground. A single shot to the chest. Black consumed all he could see, he saw one last thing: a cloaked figure holding a ritualistic knife over his sleeping children.

"Riba..." A high-pitched voice sounded out. Abir could hear a clock ticking. "I've been watching you." He plunged the knife down into Vanilla's stomach. Blood spilled out. "I've been watching you since that all-holy day, and now, I'm back, and I will ruin you." He plunged the knife into Vanity's chest, blood spraying everywhere. "You are a deplorable human being. Choke on your own blood, and die."

Abir closed his eyes, as the life drained from his body.

Chapter 2: Life In Syrupburg

** 1789, Steadily Growing Mushroom Kingdom**

He opened his eyes, but he did not know who he was. He did not know anything. He was encased in a strange liquid, but he could breathe like air.

"Abor," a child's voice sounded out from... somewhere... "I've been waiting for you."

He tried to open his mouth to say something, but just then, his lungs filled up with water. "Do not speak," the voice called out again. "It is not your right. Now sleep."

And so he did. He closed his eyes, and air filled his lungs again. He slept. And slept. And slept some more. Until he opened his eyes again.

He was unsure of how much time had passed, but he realized something... strange. He was smaller than when he went to sleep. He was bundled up in a blanket, a warm, cuddly blanket. He was crying. He couldn't control himself. His hands were bunched together, touching what felt like a gemstone in the shape of a diamond.

"Riba..." A woman's voice said. He thought this woman was addressing him. The voice was comforting, soothing. Was this his mother? A tall man ran into the room, slamming open the door.

"Rebecca!" The man shouted. "Did you-?!"

"Shh, Honey..." The woman who was addressed as Rebecca whispered. "It's a boy..."

The man looked at the baby with wonder in his eyes. "A boy, huh?" The man who she called Honey asked. He let out a snicker. "I told you."

"Oh, stop it!" Rebecca teased. "Look at those eyes. I can tell- he chose us..." Rebecca and Honey looked lovingly into each other's eyes, as they kissed.

As this baby, the one we've been calling "him," grew up, he found that things were a little more complicated than he originally thought. You see, his name, was Riba. It was chosen because A, it's the Slovenian word for fish, because they were a fishing family, and B. because it almost sounded like Rebecca. Speaking of which, Rebecca was Riba's mother, and Honey was his father. The gemstone thing on his chest was apparently regarded as a good luck charm that he was born with. His parents said it was an extension of his great, big heart.

Before long, Riba had gone outside for the first time. He figured out a lot about the place he lived in. It was called "Syrupburg." Syrupburg was a small town in a kingdom called the "Mushroom Kingdom." Syrupburg was full of many different species and cultures. One was the Koopa species, to which Koopingston, the mayor of the town, belonged to.

Every day, Riba and his family would go to the dock to fish for, well, fish! There was a nice syrupy lake nearby with fish that tasted very sweet. Koi would always catch the bigger ones, but Riba got tiny ones. Oh yeah, Riba had an older sister whose name was Koi. She was a real go-getter, and Riba's greatest inspiration! He wanted to be just like her. It's a dream he's had since that day.

It was the day before Riba's birthday. He was going to turn six years old. This was going to be the best celebration, and it required the best-tasting thing ever. Syrup from the heart of the Honey Syrup Jungle.

"So, Riba," Rebecca started. "What is it that you want for your birthday?"

Riba knew what he wanted: the syrup from that tree. But since he already had plans for that tree, he decided against telling his mother. He wanted it to be a surprise. "Hmm, I dunno," Riba said, playing with his toy bear called Spottington the Third. He loved the name, and thought he remembered it from somewhere. "I guess we'll see."

That day, Riba went out for a walk without his parents knowing. He decided to explore the nearby Honey Syrup Jungle. He heard it was full of rogues and monsters. But at the heart of the jungle was a tree of which seeped out the greatest Honey Syrup ever. It was called the Heart Tree. Ever since Riba heard of it, he was enamored with the idea of finding it and bringing back an entire thing of its syrup. His parents would be so proud, and he could surpass his big sister, who would go out every day to get syrup from the trees that were nearest to the house.

He walked through the Honey Syrup Jungle, dreaming of the syrup from the tree. It must be so good to be this legendary. That's when he realized he was hungry. But alas, as he reached in his backpack, he remembered that he had eaten his sandwich already. If that wasn't bad enough, the sun had already set on the horizon, leaving the sky black save for the twinkling stars. It became very cold, and Riba began to curse himself for not bringing more layers. Just then, a rogue Scuttlebug swooped down from above and tried to catch Riba with their suction cup hands, planning to make him their next meal. It only hardly missed. Riba ran away into the forest.

Riba ran. And he ran. And he ran some more. Leaves from the trees began to cover up the sky, leaving Riba in a nearly pitch black darkness. But he had to continue forward. He needed to make his family proud and best Koi.

As time passed, Riba stumbled upon a clearing. He was so very hungry, and so very cold. But as he looked ahead, he saw the most amazing thing, something that would make all his worries melt away in a sweet, delicious snack. Ahead of him was perhaps the biggest tree he had ever seen. And a huge helping of Honey Syrup spilled out of several parts, forming a large puddle below. Riba's eyes lit up, and he ran towards the tree as fast as he could. Suddenly, a large roar erupted from the puddle. Riba stopped in his tracks, his heart skipping a beat.

Yet another roar shook the earth underneath Riba's feet. He let out a squeal, which was his worst mistake. He heard-and felt- footsteps that created earthquakes beneath him. A single horn protruded from the syrupy puddle, sending sticky syrup everywhere. It stuck Riba to the ground, immobilizing him. He struggled to get out of the substance before he even laid eyes on the beast it must belong to.

He squirmed and struggled, as the horrible disfigured monster rose from the muck. It had bushy, black fur, crystal red eyes, four feet, a sideways-oval shaped body, and a rat's tail. It took another step forward, and shook itself as to loosen any persistent drops of syrup that remained. It shot over to Riba like a giant tidal wave. It encased him in a sweet little prison in which he could not breathe.

The horrible abomination stopped on a dime, letting out a low growl that scared the birds from the trees. It then let out a ferocious roar as it charged towards Riba. Riba tried to scream, but his lips were stuck together. Riba's eyes were forced open as the monster put down its head in order to impale him on its horn. He would be forced to watch his horrible fate. He readied himself for death.

And heard a loud splatter as everything went black.

Riba could only hear bits and pieces of everything going on around him. Someone screaming, a loud clatter of something hitting the ground. A low-pitched cry. And then, a loud _SLAP! _Vision blessed Riba once again. In front of him was Koi. She looked very concerned.

"Riba! RIBA!" Koi screamed, though it was nearly overpowered by the loud ringing in Riba's ears. He was slapped again. "You idiot!"

"Koi, stop!" Riba cried, his senses coming back to him. "I'm fine!"

"No, you're not fine!" Koi replied. "You almost got eaten by a Boogley!"

"A Boogley?" Riba asked.

"That," Koi pointed towards the motionless monster that had attacked Riba just moments ago. It was bleeding out between its eyes. A lone machete lay on the jungle floor. "Riba, you can't be so reckless, you could have gotten yourself killed!"

"I'm sorry..." Riba whispered meekly. "I just wanted to be like you."

Koi paused. "You wanted to be like me?" She asked.

"Yes!" Riba yelled. "I just wanted to..."

"I understand, Riba," Koi said. "You just need to be more careful... mom and dad were so worried about you... and so was I!"

"Why did you even come out here anyway?" Koi asked. Riba pointed towards the tree with a sniff. "Ohhh... I see."

They both just stood for a moment. "Well, what are you waiting for?" Koi asked, smiling. "Let's go!"

They spent the next few minutes filling the jar with the luscious syrup from the tree, after taking a few fingerfulls of the stuff for themselves. They ran home and arrived at the strike of midnight. It was Riba's birthday, and he had the best syrup in the world to boot. They jumped into the loving arms of their parents. They asked Riba all about his adventure, after some yelling and arguing. Riba happily told them everything. From the Scuttlebug to the Boogley, over a nice cup of Honey Syrup.

If this experience had taught Riba anything, it's that he came first. Koi immediately killed the Boogley to save his life.

And he would do anything to make sure that he got the advantage. No matter who suffered as a result. Because he was the only one that mattered.

Chapter 3: Evangelistis and Apples

** A few years later**

Years passed, and step by step, Riba slowly grew into an adult. He began combing his hair and donned a nice black suit to look presentable, as he had recently gotten a message by telegram that there was an opening for someone to be the guardian of Marchionne Evangelisti, from a faraway town called Evangeline.

Evangeline was a closed-off society of exclusively New-Donkers. They were very much so against the idea of any other species coming into their town. They labeled all other species as "witches." Marchionne Evangelisti was the son of the head clergyman of the church. Riba decided that if he was to come out on top, he would have to do so in way of riches and wealth.

He had an entire plan to become rich quick. He would offer his services to the Evangelisti family, wait for all the members but Marchionne to die, and then, by default, the church would go to him, as you have to be at least twenty five to be the head clergyman. Marchionne was only 18, with Riba being 24. He would become rich. It was the perfect plan. It had to work. He would lie to the Evangelistis that he came from the church across town to increase his levels of getting in. They were highly religious, and he would be able to blow away the competition if he just lied.

On the morning of the trip to Evangeline, Rebecca approached her son as the sun began to rise. "Riba, I am so proud of you," She said. She gave Riba a big hug, as Honey followed and joined in.

"You will do good, boy," Honey said, his voice rough with age. "Make your ol' man proud."

"I will, mom and dad," Riba replied, knowing full well his true intentions would not make them proud. He didn't care. The world was a chess board, and everyone around him were just pieces.

"Be careful," Rebecca said, a hint of worry in her voice. She and Honey joined hands. "We love you."

"I love you too," Riba responded. "I will make you both proud."

So Riba hopped into his carriage, pulled by two horses. He whipped them, and they ran off into the sunrise. Never to return to Syrupburg.

Right?

It was a long journey, even by carriage. It became very stormy, and one of the horses got injured. Riba had to spend the next few days nursing it back to health, or else it could not pull the carriage. Sadly, the wound got infected and the horse ended up dying. Riba was down to one horse.

As Riba continued on the journey, he found he became very hungry. He was very low on food. It reminded him of his time in the Honey Syrup Jungle all those years back. How much fun he had, how much terror he experienced. How much he missed his sister, Koi, who one day went into the jungle for her usual syrup run and never came back.

Koi was Riba's best friend, and as stated earlier, his biggest inspiration. When she disappeared, his life fell into shambles. After all, she did save his life. What was he supposed to do after she went away? He decided his only option was to live on for her, and make the best of his life. She was the only one he cared about. He was going to make sure her life wasn't in vain.

It took a long, tiring, hungry few months for Riba to arrive in Little Meadows Woods, just a mile from Evangeline. He had survived off Super Mushrooms and game that he encountered along the way. This was when his horse decided to give out. It was so very tired, and decided a nap would be nice. So, Riba continued without the horse. He thought it would be a fine distance to the town to just walk.

When he arrived, he shambled into a nearby house. "Hello?" Riba called out. "Is anyone there?"

"Oh..." A young man, about Riba's age, said as he walked down the stairs. "Hello. What brings you here, traveler?"

"I'm here to offer my services to the Evangelisti's son, Marchionne," Riba replied. "I was told they live in this town. I traveled by carriage from the 4th District. This... isn't by any chance the Evangelisti's residence, right?"

"Sadly, no, but you must be hungry," The man said, concerned. "I'll get you something to eat, wait here." The man walked back upstairs. Riba appreciated his hospitality. The man came downstairs with a bowl of fruits. Riba happily accepted, as he bit into a tasty, juicy apple.

"My name's Princeton," The young man said. "You, um, really like that apple..."

"They don't have many of these back where I come from," Riba replied, juice trickling down his mouth. "My family always had these as a treat for special occasions, like holidays." This apple was amazing. It was even better than the syrup from the Heart Tree. Riba finished the apple and wiped his mouth on his sleeve. "Ah."

"I got those from the Second District, past Silent Forest," Princeton said, in a pleased manner. "There's a big tree there that has great apples near the top."

"Exquisite," Riba beamed. "We should go there together after I meet with the Evangelistis."

"That sounds fun," Princeton agreed. "It's a deal."

Riba and Princeton said their goodbyes, and Riba headed off deeper into Evangeline. For a prejudiced, discriminatory town, it was actually pretty nice there. There were happy birds singing in the distance. So there were species here other than New-Donkers. Everywhere Riba walked, there were people going about their lives joyously, without a care in the world. Riba could not wait to be their new leader. Finally, he arrived at the biggest house in the district. It was in the center, so it must have belonged to the Evangelistis. He knocked on the door.

"Who is it?" A man with a gruff voice and an Italian accent called.

"I'm Riba Lakes," Riba responded. "I came here from the church in the 4th District to offer my assistance to your family."

"Oh, come in! Come in!" The man, who was likely Mr. Evangelisti, said. He opened the door. He was a tall man with a bulbous nose, blue eyes, brown hair, and a black fluffy mustache. He definitely fit the image of Mr. Evangelisti that Riba had in his mind. "We've been awaiting your arrival, Mr. Lakes."

"It's an honor, Sir Evangelisti," Riba said, as he took a bow.

"Here, come inside," Mr. Evangelisti asked. "You can meet my son, the one you will be taking care of."

Riba hung his jacket on the rack and took off his shoes. "Wah!" Mr. Evangelisti cried.

"Sir Evangelisti?" Riba asked, surprised. "What's wrong?! Are you okay?!"

"Your jacket... it smells like... fish?" Mr. Evangelisti said. Riba just stared blankly at him. "Ah- it's fine. I apologize." Riba followed Mr. Evangelisti up the stairs.

"It's strange," Mr. Evangelisti stated. "I've just met you, and you're already like a son to me."

"Huh," Riba replied. What was this guy talking about?

"There are some ground rules you will have to follow while taking care of Marchionne," Mr. Evangelisti told Riba as they went to Marchionne's room. "First and foremost, he is forbidden from going outside. Under NO circumstances can he leave this room."

"Understood," Riba said. Although he was thinking something more along these lines: "He doesn't let his kid go outside? What a wacko."

"Second..." Mr. Evangelisti paused. He turned to Riba with sad eyes. He stared at the ground. "Please treat him well. He's a good boy. He will one day come to take my place, and I want him to be in top condition before then."

"I will, Sir Evangelisti," Riba responded. "Marchionne is very important to us all. He is our future. I'm glad you're as proud of him as I am."

"Thank you," Mr. Evangelisti replied, sighing. He opened the door. Inside, a young man who looked very much like Mr. Evangelisti sat on his bed, reading a long novel with a boring cover.

"Father?" The man asked. His voice was very familiar, Riba could swear he had heard it somewhere before. "Oh, is this the man you were saying would look after me?"

"Yes, Marchionne, this man's name is Riba," Mr. Evangelisti stated. "He will be your bodyguard, servant, and mentor from now on. Say hello."

"My apologies!" Marchionne blurted, nervously. Riba could tell he was a shy young man, as to be expected from someone who scarcely went outside, if ever. Riba pitied him. He couldn't imagine growing up without going outside. He would've missed out on so much. "Um, greetings, Mr. Riba!"

"Greetings," Riba said, taking a bow. "I'm glad to make your acquaintance." Riba held out his hand. It took Marchionne a few seconds to realize he had to shake it. He did so. Mr. Evangelisti smiled, something the sour man rarely did. It was official. Riba was now Marchionne's caretaker.

Later that day, Riba and Princeton headed to the second district. Riba was very excited to get some more apples, he absolutely loved them. "Haha, hold your horses!" Princeton called out, as Riba was far ahead of him. "We're on no short supply of apples!" Riba did not obey. He was going to get those apples.

As they began climbing the tree, apples became more and more plentiful. They had brought baskets, so Riba and Princeton started picking them. At some point, they found they had reached the top of the tree, so they began to climb back down.

"It's shocking, really," Princeton said as he climbed towards the ground.

"What is?" Riba asked.

"You've really never been to any other districts?" Princeton asked. "That's insane. My parents and I were all over the place. We must've gone to each district, save for yours, at least twice a day." When Princeton said this, Riba's heart nearly skipped a beat. Was he onto him? He needed to make up another lie.

"Well, my family were very important to the church of the 4th district," Riba fibbed, his eyes averting. "We didn't really have much time to go to leaving the district."

"Ah, I see," Princeton replied. "I really wish I met you sooner, this was fun," Princeton smiled sweetly towards Riba. Riba nodded his head. That's when he realized the sun was setting over the horizon. This quickly brought up the fact that he didn't really have anywhere to sleep. He had just arrived.

"Princeton?" Riba asked, as he caught up to his new friend. He hesitated. "Um, this is a bit awkward, but... I don't really have anywhere to sleep. It'll be dangerous to go back to the 4th District with all the nocturnal creatures prowling around. Don't want to run into a Gloomba, am I right?"

"Oh, but of course!" Princeton said, taken aback. "Right this way, you have full access to my guest room." Princeton grabbed Riba's hand, and ran back to the 1st District. The forest separating Districts 1 and 2 was relatively uninhabited, granting it the name "Silent Forest." They had no trouble going through there. Finally, they arrived at Princeton's house. They both walked inside, as Princeton slowly let their hands drift apart.

"The guest room is up the stairs to the left. My room is the next one on the left, so wake me if you need anything," Princeton said, tripping over his words at some points.

"Thank you," Riba replied.

"Oh! It's really nothing..." Princeton exclaimed, surprised. Riba didn't understand why he was acting so nervous. Was it something he said? He decided to forget about it. He sat down on a chair in the guest room as he watched the sun set. He found comfort knowing it was the same sun that he's had his whole life, the one that rose and set over the glistening Honey Lake every day and night. He kicked off his shoes and bundled up in blankets, as the stars lit up the night sky.

Chapter 4: Nightmares and Scoundrels

That night, Riba had a strange dream, from which he woke up in a cold sweat, screaming. Tears were flooding his eyes. He held his head, as he had a massive migraine. This alerted Princeton, who ran over to the guest room frantically. "Riba!" He exclaimed, filled with worry. "Riba, are you okay?"

Riba fell off the bed in the fetal position. "Gone, they're all gone..." Riba mumbled. Princeton was frightened, and he didn't know what Riba was saying.

"Who?" Princeton asked. "Who's gone?" Riba began to hyperventilate. "Goodness!" Princeton exclaimed. He didn't know what to do. Riba was having trouble breathing. Helpless, Princeton hugged Riba tightly. A high-pitched ringing began to play in Riba's head. His surroundings began to tear away into a new environment. He found himself on a hammock, with a piece of straw in his mouth. It seemed to be late day, and he was embracing a red-haired woman as they rocked back and forth. Two children were throwing a frisbee around, as a black-spotted white Yoshi shot its tongue out to catch it. The children laughed. Another loud sound, a low sound, one that nearly broke his eardrums. One child fell dead.

Another. The other child, who was fleeing, fell to the ground. The Yoshi charged, but was shot down as well. It fell down, and its tongue flopped out of its mouth. Another shot, one that pierced both the woman and Riba. A high-pitched sound, and the beautiful, blood-splattered landscape around him fell apart.

Riba found himself, side down on the floor, curling his legs and rocking back and forth. Princeton smiled widely as Riba opened his eyes. Tears dropped from Princeton's face onto the floor, narrowly missing Riba. "Riba! You're okay!" Princeton exclaimed, sobbing. Riba was slowly coming to.

"Urgh, what happened?" Riba asked, holding his head.

"You woke up screaming, and I ran in here as fast as I could," Princeton explained. "I think you had a nightmare. Are you okay?"

"I should be fine..." Riba said, flinching. He still had a minor headache.

"Here, why don't you tell me what happened?" Princeton asked. He helped Riba walk over to the table, and sat him down. It took a moment for Riba to fully recollect himself. He could only remember bits and pieces of his dream. He was at a dinner table lit by candle, and there was a meal being served, with his food beneath a silver platter. As he turned to his right, he saw the same lady with red hair that appeared in his vision.

"Eat up, sweetie!" She said, grinning sweetly. She was eating a fancy-looking steak. It looked more delicious than anything Riba had seen in his life.

"Yoshi!" A voice called out from in front of Riba. The same Yoshi in his vision was eating a yummy fruit salad by repeatedly picking each fruit with his tongue.

The children in his vision were playing with their food, which granted them a light scolding from the woman. On his left was a man he recognized from somewhere, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it. He had a dumb happy face, blue eyes filled with child-like wonder, a bulbous nose, a bushy moustache, and a big red cap with an "M" on it. He was shorter than Mr. Evangelisti, but taller than Marchionne. He dug into a lavish mushroom stew with a joyous smile. He would have seemed charming, if not for the knife he was hiding in his overalls. Riba couldn't see it, but he knew it was there. This was his dream, and he knew all.

Riba stared blankly at his platter, not saying a word as the happy man slowly walked around the table, stabbing everyone accompanying it, with little to no resistance from the victims. Nearly everyone was somebody Riba vaguely remembered. If one weren't smarter, they would think he was oblivious to the carnage going on around him. Riba was not hungry, but he slowly lifted the lid of the platter, revealing the head of the man, staring at him with a green glint in his eyes.

"Riba..." The head said, as the body it should be on collapsed to the ground, headless. Everything faded away around Riba and the head, of which slowly grew the body of a young woman with a blue dress. It was towering over Riba. Riba fell over. "I remember what you did, Riba... I won't forgive you... you will die here, and nobody will care."

When Riba was supposed to hit the ground, he felt nothing below him. He began to fall. Around him, voices erupted and invaded his eardrums. "I was your friend, I gave you everything, and how do you repay me? Like this. Pitiful. You are a deplorable being, and I will see to it that you are destroyed. She won't save you from this one."

"I will kill... kill... kill... kill you."

Princeton's chin lie on his hand. He was contemplating what Riba just told him. "What do you think it means?" Princeton asked, very concerned.

"It was probably just a bad nightmare. You sure I didn't eat any poisonous apples?" Riba asked.

"Riba, this could be serious," Princeton said. "I don't think you should go to work today."

"Why not?" Riba asked, confused.

"Let me tell you..." Princeton replied. He told Riba of how there were witches that could invade people's dreams and kill them in their sleep. Princeton thought it was possible that one of the Evangelistis were plotting against Riba.

"That's crazy talk," Riba replied, though he knew full well that it could be true. Were the Evangelistis onto him? "The Evangelistis wouldn't..."

"Ah, maybe I am just blabbering," Princeton said, catching himself. "That kind of talk could get me executed. Just, be careful, okay? I don't want anything happening to you."

"I'll keep an eye out," Riba assured Princeton. "Thank you for your kindness and hospitality to me."

"Oh, you're welcome..." Princeton replied, chuckling a little. "You can come back here any time you'd like, and I personally want to spend more time with you."

"I'll be moving to the 1st District so I have more accessibility to the Evangelisti's home," Riba stated. "I'll see if we can meet again." With that as a goodbye, Riba walked out of Princeton's house. He had some time to kill before his shift with Marchionne, so he decided to stop by the realtor to reserve a vacant house. He had Coins from his meeting with the Evangelistis the day before, and the papers were signed. It was a lengthy process, and, once it was done, it was time for his shift. He walked towards the Evangelisti's house.

Riba's plan would work with time. He would just wait for the old man to die. It seemed he was a widower, as Mrs. Evangelisti was nowhere to be seen. Mr. Evangelisti was already weak and frail, getting along in his years. It would not take long, right?

Riba's task for the day was simple: make sure Marchionne read his books and did his work. Marchionne, not being able to go outside, was home schooled. With his father at church, and the mother supposedly dead, the man was running a high risk of Marchionne eloping the residence and going outside to play. Riba was just there to watch over him and keep him in one place.

Riba grew very bored of explaining words and equations to Marchionne, the kid was exceedingly stupid. All day, he whined about not being able to go outside. Every time he complained, Riba recited the fact that Marchionne was not allowed outside. Marchionne threw a temper tantrum. Not only was he stupid, but obnoxious too. He was a young adult, but acted like a damned child. Riba became annoyed and snapped, scolding Marchionne. Marchionne put his head down and listened, as he had been taught to do.

At the end of his shift, Riba left towards Little Meadows Woods. Luckily, his carriage was still there, but everything of value wasn't. Riba cursed as he found that nearly everything he brought with him was stolen, including Spottington the Third. He mumbled swears under his breath as he ransacked his remaining items, going back and forth between the woods and his new house to get his belongings in a secure place. He found his journal, which had still not had a word entered into it. He decided to make an entry detailing his arrival in the town, his job, and his intentions, and stored it under his bed so nobody could find out.

Once all his belongings were in his home, night had fell. Riba lied down in his pathetic bed. It creaked and was not comfortable to be in. He drifted off to sleep.

Chapter 5: Curious Children, Talking Masks, and a Cat

Miraculously, Riba woke up without having any traumatizing nightmares like the night before. As he looked around, he didn't recognize his surroundings. Then he had remembered, he had just gotten his new house yesterday. God, what a sad little house. There was no furniture besides the bed, and just a handful of Riba's belongings strewn out across the floor.

Riba then realized with a little help from his growling stomach, that he needed to go shopping. After eavesdropping on some conversations, he found the prime shopping center in Evangeline was the 3rd District. He headed past the Hollow Forest, full of dying trees. It was a shame, really. These trees must have once been beautiful. All that was left behind was a dry wasteland.

Riba had heard stories about a witch war long ago. During the attempt to reclaim the land Evangeline was built on from witches, the witches had cast a spell on the trees that made them slowly die, not being able to produce fruits.

Riba couldn't help but feel offended by Evangeline's "witch" label. He had grown up around other species, and for them to be so blindly labeled as witches felt dehumanizing. He hated it. He didn't have much time to ponder this, however, as he had stumbled upon the entrance to the 3rd District.

Crowds flooded the area, Riba had trouble just taking a step. He decided to just go with the flow rather than fight it. Besides, with the 3rd District being closest to the far-off 4th District, he didn't want anyone realizing he was lying about living there. As he walked, he noticed a slippery little snail of a little girl running through the crowd with a purse, followed by frantic shouts of a woman. The woman ungracefully tried to push through the traffic, to no avail. The child had escaped.

As Riba was pushed by the crowd, one outlier caught his eye. On the grass sat an old man, perhaps in his 60s, who had a bag full of what seemed to be toys. His face was half-covered by a strange looking mask. Despite Riba being a young adult, he still had an affinity for toys, especially stuffed animals, which seemed plentiful in the bag of tricks. Riba pushed himself out of the crowd to approach the strange man.

"Why, a stranger! Yipee, yipee!" The mask seemed to talk, but it was obviously just the man using some sort of trick. This got a chuckle out of Riba. "I am Vittoria, the master of drama, traveling saleswoman! Take a look at these goodies!" The man jumped and clapped his heels together.

"I like your mask," Riba said, meaning it as a compliment. "How much you selling for it?"

"Why, what a rude question!" The man barked. The mask seemed to change its expression. Riba was taken aback. He was obviously using some kind of magic. However, as Riba looked closer at the man, his gaze seemed vacant, as if he was completely drained of his life energy. Riba's respect for so called "witches" kept him from ordering for the man to get executed. "Referring to me as an 'it!' How deplorable!"

"Whoa there," Riba defended, the man was getting aggressive. "Calm down, I didn't mean it."

"Why you little brat!" The man said. "With that attitude, those you've wronged will come back to bite you. What a drama!"

"He's gone senile," Riba thought, though he dare not say it. What was this man thinking being here? Didn't he know he could get executed?

"Sorry," Riba apologized. "Hey, how about one of those- toys?" Riba felt silly asking for a toy, he was a grown adult. A smile returned to the mask's face.

"Why, he is actually going to do business! What a performance!" The man cried out. "I know just what you want!" The man dug into his bag, and pulled out a small, plain, beige toy that looked like a balloon animal in shape. Riba was unimpressed.

"What is this?" He asked. He stared blankly at the crazy old coot.

"Not impressed?" The man asked. Riba thought it was unusual how his voice was so high-pitched. Almost like a woman's. Could the mask have been controlling him? "Well let's take a looksie!"

The man pinched the toy between his fingers. When he took his hand off the other, Riba's eyes lit up. It was Spottington the Third! Riba forked over a ludicrous amount of Coins for Spottington the Third. He hugged him tightly, as the two life-long friends were reunited. Riba turned him over in his hands. Then he realized, this wasn't just a replica, it was Spottington the Third! There was even the stain from when Riba spilled Honey Syrup on him. But Riba thought that Spottington the Third had been stolen. This was some sort of magic he'd never seen before... wait...

"Hey!" Riba exclaimed. The man began to laugh.

"Thanks for doing business, but now I need to make my dramatic exit!" The man exclaimed, as he ran into the crowd. Riba shook his fist in the air as the man made his escapade. He then heard fighting sounds, a brawl had erupted. He heard struggling sounds, and went to check. The crowd had made a decent distance around the two fighters as to not get caught in the conflict. The little girl from before had the man in a choke-hold. Riba had to actively stop himself from bursting out laughing.

"Uncle! Uncle!" The man cried out, the mask had a sorrowful expression, while the man himself remained a blank slate. He handed the Coins over to the little girl, who clenched them in her fist. She let go. "What a drama queen! I'll be back!" The man ran into the forest.

The girl kept walking, presumably to go back to wherever she lived. But Riba stopped her. "Wait!" He called out. She turned around to face him. "Those are my Coins." Riba held out his hand, as to receive the Coins. The girl hesitantly put them in his hand. They glistened as they disappeared into his hand. A familiar jingle played.

"I'm sorry," The little girl said. She looked nervous, as if she's never been caught before.

"It's okay," Riba replied, exhaling. "You didn't know." The little girl's eyes lit up.

"Mister?" She asked, as Riba began to walk off. He stopped in his tracks and turned his head.

"Yes?" Riba replied, kneeling down to come to eye level with her.

"Why do you treat me so well compared to everyone else?" She asked. Riba's eyes softened. He saw some potential in this girl, but he didn't quite know what kind.

"You don't deserve to be treated like trash," Riba said. "You deserve better."

"Everyone hates us, I don't know why," She responded.

"It's jealousy," Riba answered. "Something-"

Something clicked in Riba's mind. This exact moment had happened before. He stopped himself from falling back. He remembered this child from long ago, despite him just meeting her. This is when he remembered. He remembered his past lives. He remembered being Abir and living on a farm. He remembered Spotty, Penelope, Vanity, and Vanilla. He screamed, scaring the girl. She backed away with a sound of disgust. Riba breathed heavily, he could hear the sound of his heartbeat. And then, suddenly, it felt like time stopped.

"Hello," A voice said. A black cat walked into Riba's field of vision.

"Sorry, I had to do that," The cat said. "I've seen this play out countless times, and I guess it just got boring."

"What are you talking about?" Riba asked. As he looked around, he found everything had turned a light shade of blue. Time had literally stopped. It was not just a feeling.

"Ugh, I never thought this would have to happen," The cat said. "Riba Lakes, I am Len Alwenia Foska. I have been watching you for countless millennia."

"Countless millennia?!" Riba shouted. "That's impossible!"

"Shut up and listen to me," Len muttered. "There is a very bad person out to get you. He has been changing fate just to watch you suffer, and I needed to step in."

"Who's trying to get me?" Riba asked.

"Do you really not remember?" Len asked. She sighed in frustration. "Allow me to jog your memory."

A series of visions filled Riba's head. There was the farm from his previous vision, the face of Abir Toadstool, how he killed Penelope Fishington. Then, there was a cloaked figure whose face was obscured by shadows. "Ack!" Riba choked. He didn't quite know what to make of these thoughts. He then remembered everything. He remembered his life in the countryside. He remembered watching Alice grow up, and then killing her. He remembered executing Marchionne. The mansion. Every different path that was taken. But first and foremost, he remembered the man in the red hat.

The man in the red hat... the same one that appeared in his nightmare. He remembered it clearly now. His name was Mario. Ah, Mario. He had been a thorn in Riba's side since they met. He had even killed Riba at some points. He was the reincarnation of Marchionne Evangelisti, who had used witch craft to ensure he would be reborn with his loved ones.

"Is that better?" Len asked, with a hushed tone.

"Ah-" Riba clenched his head in his hands. "AAAAAHHHH!" He yelled. This pain was unbearable. He took heavy breaths in and out. "Who is he?" Riba asked, pain and anger in his voice.

"That's the thing," Len replied, calmly. "I don't know. If I did, I would have eliminated them already. All I know is that they are disturbing the natural order of this experiment. They have been traveling backwards in time and space itself to disrupt the natural progression of events. For instance, you were never supposed to kill Penelope. This entity has complete influence over the world around us, even more than I do."

A devilish grin grew on Riba's face. "Ahahaha..." He chuckled. "So that's how it is. Thank you, little cat. Without you I wouldn't have been able to remember."

"You are but another test subject in my experiment on human nature," Len stated, seemingly out of the blue. "You die, and you come back to avoid your previous death. But now it is up to you to save this experiment before they ruin it forever." The cat began to walk off into the distance. "I will watch over you and see how your journey is going. Good luck."

The blue tint disappeared, as did the cat. The little girl stood there, thoroughly scared by Riba's sudden psychotic outburst. He let out a long and insane laugh, which resulted in the girl running away screaming. Finally, he had regained his memory. He remembered who he was! But there was somebody interfering. Somebody was out to ruin him, and nobody knew who he was. When he found who it was, he would make sure their death was slow and painful. He wanted to watch them suffer for what they did to him.

But first, he would find Mario. He would kill him. He had decided that Mario had been annoying him for far too long. Knowing him, he would probably end up killing Riba again or getting in his way before Riba could find the true culprit behind his suffering. And he would. But until then, he would wait for the day Mario came back into his life, so he could murder him on the spot. Then, he was sent flying as a mysterious portal opened. A man who looked just like Riba, but with different, battered clothing, jumped out and gave him a powerful side kick. Riba was knocked unconscious before he hit the ground.

Chapter 6: Sunrise Without You

** 2019, Seaside Kingdom, In Another Life...**

"Oi!" Riba called out to Mario on one particularly nice sunset by the beach, on their humble little farm in the Seaside Kingdom.

"Riba!" Mario said, smiling as he turned to face his friend. "How are you?"

"Oh, just the usual," Riba replied, staring off into the sea. "The chores for the day are done, and it's almost supper time. If you don't hurry, your food might get cold."

"Ah, I'll be right there!" Mario gasped, not realizing how long he had been by the coastline. They ran into their house. "I'm sorry for not doing much work today."

"That's okay," Riba smiled, as they entered the doorway to their home. "You've been working hard lately, you deserve a rest." Mario smiled guiltily. He still thought he should be working a little harder, but today he felt particularly weak. He did not know why, exactly. He felt as if he was coming down with the flu, but did not want to worry Riba by telling him.

Riba didn't mind the extra work in the farm. He liked helping Mario out. It seemed like it had been just yesterday they had escaped the literal ghost town of Evangeline and started their new life far away from the Mushroom Kingdom. But in reality, it had been about two and a half years. Riba could not believe that at one point he was planning to kill Mario. The two had become best friends over the years. But Riba could sense an immense sadness in Mario, the poor plumber missed a lot of people very much.

All that time ago, Mario, under the influence of Alice Aduraice, had killed both his brother, Luigi, and Princess Peach of the Mushroom Kingdom. He missed them both very much, and blamed himself for their deaths entirely. There was a hole in his heart, a void Riba wanted desperately to fill. Mario meant a lot to him. He was all Riba had, aside from some acquaintances he had met in town.

The day before, the farming duo caught word of what had happened in the Mushroom Kingdom after the princess died, and two of the greatest heroes disappeared. The Bowser Kingdom had given up all efforts to take over the kingdom, as Peach was now dead. The reason Bowser made all the efforts was because he did have genuine feelings for Peach, in some way. Toadette, assuming her Peachette form, resumed order in the Mushroom Kingdom after a year-long purge due to lack of authority. They had signed a deal with the Bowser Kingdom to find Mario and have him publicly executed for the deaths of Luigi Mario, and Princess Peach Toadstool, a rare punishment for the kingdom, and for the world as a whole after the mass executions of Evangeline. Everyone Mario used to consider a friend or even friendly rival were out to get him. But Riba loved and cared for him, making sure nobody would hurt that which was most precious to him: Mario.

After a decent supper, Riba said his good-nights to Mario and headed up to his room. He collapsed onto his bed, exhausted from the day's work. But he did it all for Mario. He picked up his old, worn journal and began to write.

1/13/19

Hey, journal. Riba here, again. It was just another day working on the farm. Mario spent most of his day just looking into the ocean. I worry about him. Since he figured out the state of the Mushroom Kingdom, he's becoming more and more saddened by the minute. I can feel it.

I used to feel no sympathy towards him, but he taught me compassion, nobody has been as kind and forgiving to me as he has been. I- I love him for that. I just want my happy Mario back. I wonder where he's gone...

* * *

That was the day Riba discovered he had feelings for Mario. It was a magical day for him, which makes him miss him even more.

Riba stood, making a prayer to... somebody... that Mario would have a good afterlife. Mario's dead body was hidden away in a crudely made coffin of sticks and knots holding them together. Riba dug him a hole by a lone Honey tree in the forest, and carefully placed the coffin into the hole. As he buried the coffin, he began to cry. He dropped the shovel and clenched his hands to his chest, his tears mixing into the rain, yet falling all the same.

"WHYYY?!" Riba shouted into the night sky for nobody to hear. "Why is it that whenever I'm finally happy, it's taken away from me?! There are so many things I wanted to say... and I never got to say the one I wanted to the most!"

When Alice had left Mario's body, she had left a curse on him that gave him the same deadly illness that she herself died of. There... there was no cure. Riba had cried 24 hours straight every day once he recognized the illness. He wanted so much to help Mario, but was devastated by the fact that even in this modern age, no such medicine existed.

In Riba's hand, there was a rope. He knew what he planned to do with it. He flung one half over a tree branch, and dragged a rock under the rope. He tied the knot into a noose, and stepped up onto the rock. He held the rope around the hole tightly like he wanted to hold Mario. He knew what he was doing would not end his suffering, he had been given the curse of rebirth. But if he could forget about it all when he reincarnated, a common occurrence when he did, maybe he could live a happier life, if even just for a little while.

That's when a strange black cat walked out from behind the tree line. It sat down and watched Riba. Riba thought about his life, his _lives_. He thought about how this one was by far his best. Did he really want to throw it away and forget about it? Forget about Mario? The cat stared. It swung its tail. Riba looked at the cat, and then at the hole he had dug for Mario. Then back at his hands. Slowly and hesitantly, he unfastened his grip on the noose. He climbed down off the rock.

"I'm glad to see you made the right choice," The cat said. "The world needs you right now. Mario needs you. But most importantly, you need yourself." Riba did not have time to question the talking cat. Instead, he knelt down and pet the cat.

"What do you mean, girl?" Riba asked, choking on his words.

"Riba, you and all your other incarnations are in great danger," The cat warned. "And I have a feeling we all need to work together to stop it. Somebody has been abusing fate, going back in time and ruining all of your lives, leaving you to die. If we don't act now, your entire existence could be erased."

"Erased, huh?" Riba asked. He marveled at the idea, but knew it was not an option. He thought about Mario, how he would want him to keep going. Mario was always one to stand in the face of danger. Riba could follow in his footsteps and let his legacy live on. "Well, we can't have that. This is abrupt, but I guess..." Riba picked up the cat and put her over his shoulder. "Here, let me take you back to the farm. This is still a little confusing to me."

Riba made himself a cup of chamomile tea, his favorite, to try to help himself calm down. This was the worst day of his life, he decided. But at least he made a new friend in this talking cat. The cat hopped up onto the sofa chair across from his, which used to belong to Mario. A flash of light. The cat turned into what seemed to be a cloaked, white-haired young girl. She stared calmly at Riba. Riba was almost surprised, but Mario had told him of similar things that could happen when magic was involved, (even the exact opposite of what just happened.)

"So, introductions..." The girl, (who was the cat,) said. "I am Len Alwenia Foska. In other words, God. I am the mother of fate, the force that determines how we live our lives, and how our actions affect our consequences."

"Hello, Len," Riba greeted. "So, who exactly is out to get me?"

"That, I still do not know," Len replied. "They have evaded all my radars, going right under my nose. However, they are ruining my experiment, which you are a part of. Therefore, it is your responsibility to help me."

"When did I ever agree to this 'experiment' of yours?" Riba asked, skeptically. "I don't remember anything about an experiment." 

"Ah, that's right..." Len said, in slight frustration. "You have lost your memories, just like the other one... Allow me to assist."

A bright flash of light. Riba found himself in a small town, not in control of his body as it casually walked down the path. As he turned a corner, he noticed a small girl with a cloak covering her body in an alleyway. Concerned, he walked over. The girl hardly batted an eye. She went back to staring blankly at the wall. "Take one," She said in a dead voice. She then mumbled something. "The only price is your freedom. You will serve me in an experiment on the nature of living beings."

Riba looked over at a cardboard box right next to the girl. It had some jewelry with what seemed to be precious stones adorning them. The poor thing must have been mentally ill or otherwise oblivious to the way the world worked based on what she said. Riba dug into his pocket, and pulled out 410 Coins in an act of sympathy. He handed them over to the little girl. Who reached out a hand, obtained the Coins, and went back into the comfort of her baggy cloak, which acted like a blanket to the poor little munchkin. "Thank you for your contribution, though it was unnecessary. You can pick two." Riba picked out two matching bracelets with diamonds on them for him and someone very important. He could not remember who. He also picked a golden collar for what he presumed was a pet of some kind.

"Thank you, little one," Riba said. She seemed to be a homeless child. He wondered what happened to her family. As he walked off, he suddenly felt bad for the small girl. He didn't want her to perish in the harsh weather this time of year. As he turned back to offer her a place to stay, all he saw was a black kitten with blue and yellow eyes in a cardboard box, holding a cloak in its mouth. He looked back at the matching bracelets he got. Strange. He walked away. White slowly enveloped his vision.

"Long ago, you were a man named Abir Toadstool," Len stated. "You were a farmer, and the adoptive child of the Toadstool family, who went on to build the Mushroom Kingdom, which not too long ago was the greatest kingdom in all the land." Riba took it all in. "When you and your past wife wore those bracelets, you were granted immortality. At a price."

"And that price is being your lab rat?" Riba asked. He was becoming irritated.

"In a word, yes," Len replied.

"You... You tricked me..." Riba cried. "You're the reason I suffer this same fate over and over again..."

"That is not true. You are in control of your own fate. I simply give you the opportunity," Len defended. "Now, what if I told you there was something in this for you?" This peaked Riba's interest. He lifted his face from his hands.

"And what would that be?" Riba asked.

"If we get to the bottom of this and find the culprit behind this sabotage, I will get you into a timeline where you are with the one you call Mario once again, you will be free of this 'curse', and your ideal life can become a reality, given you try hard enough of course. I cannot manipulate free will, but I can give you a second shot," Len said. Riba gasped. A chance to be with Mario again in a happier life? This was simply an offer he could not pass up.

"I'll do it!" Riba blurted, desperation in his eyes. "Where do we start?"

"First, we must find all your lost memory fragments, if anyone you've wronged is the one who's attacking you, they could help us find out who exactly it is," Len said, switching into her cat form and opening what Riba assumed to be a portal. "I would tell you everything myself, but I seem to have misplaced the memories. You can't possibly expect me to keep track of every memory of every one of my test subjects, can you?"

Riba let out a long sigh as he looked at the portal, and along with it the task at hand. Would he really be able to get to the bottom of this mystery before it was too late? He figured that this child had given him a second chance to be with Mario. And he would take it. No matter what dangers he put himself at risk of.

Len, still in cat form, hopped onto Riba's shoulder. He stepped into the portal.

Chapter 7: The Spirit of Honey Syrup Jungle

When Riba stepped out of the portal, he looked around at his new surroundings. It was a jungle. Not just any jungle, this was... Honey Syrup Jungle? It had been so long, but the jungle had not changed at all. It was untouched by the outside world. "Honey Syrup Jungle..." Riba whispered under his breath.

"Exactly," Len said, looking around. "I believe I lost one of your memory fragments in this jungle. I do not remember its contents nor that of any of the other ones I misplaced."

"That's suspiciously inconvenient," Riba mumbled. This cat was getting on his nerves.

"It's a tough job, okay?" Len said. She seemed irritated as well. "Let's just focus on finding the fragments, before they begin to fade."

Great. As it turns out, memory fragments can fade. Which puts a time limit on this quest of sorts. "This is near the town I grew up in, Syrupburg," Riba stated. "I remember one time, as a child, I went on adventure through here to get syrup from the Heart Tree, at the center of the forest." That was all Riba could quite remember. Every time he died, he found it harder and harder to recoup his memories. His family history was very blurry. He knows he had a mother, a father, and an older sister, but other than that there was not much. Perhaps his memory fragment here could help him remember that.

They set off deeper into the jungle. To hasten their progress, they hopped on a log that was floating through a river of Honey Syrup. Syrup covered their feet as they touched the log, so they would not fall off as easily. Some splashed onto Len, making her shake herself. They kept their heads facing forward, not letting their gaze ahead break. The current got stronger, when they realized they were heading for a waterfall... syrupfall? "Hang on!" Riba shouted, as the wind pelted his face. Riba couldn't jump off, as his feet felt like they were super-glued to the log. Len jumped off his shoulder as he went over the edge.

He surfed the downward current as Len free-fell right by him. She took a hearty dive, caught onto Riba's shoulder with her talon-like claws, and swooped into the air just as he would have made impact with the lake the syrupfall departed into. They went above the clouds, and back down at near supersonic speeds. Riba almost had whiplash as Len softened her descent, it was as if gravity had inverted. For a second, Riba felt complete ignorant bliss as memories consumed him. The world around him disappeared, if just for a moment. Then, he hit the ground. Much harder than he expected to. Len did a flip in the air and landed, then proceeded to lick her paw.

Riba, after a few minutes, managed to pull his foot off the log, he wiped the underside of his shoe to ensure there was not a single drop of syrup left. Suddenly, a roar shook the earth. A pair of red eyes lit up from behind the treeline. Then, another. And another. Before long, over twenty pairs of blood-red eyes lit up the darkness. One seemed to walk forward, having the sun envelop its horrific body in its warm light. Riba took a step back. It was a Boogley. He could never forget that sight. The others emerged right after what appeared to be their leader. Riba and Len were surrounded.

Not knowing what to do, Riba reached into his bag, and pulled out his machete. "Yah!" He cried as he swung it, slicing the air. But that was okay. He was not planning on hitting anyone. The Boogleys stood their ground.

"What are you doing?" Len asked, seeming indifferent. "Attack before they do." Riba swung the sword again with another war cry. Some of the weaker Boogleys began to back away. Riba kept swinging at the air until the Boogleys cleared a path for him. They showed their respect by lowering their heads. Len seemed unimpressed. Riba put his machete back into his bag, and walked forward into the heart of the jungle.

Riba entered a clearing. Around him, there was a pond being fueled by streams of Honey Syrup coming from one humongous tree, that must have been many millennia old. He took short, cautious steps towards the tree. It would have brought back memories, but they were pushed so far back that they may as well have not existed. Len hopped off Riba's shoulder, thoroughly bored by his hushed speed. She ran up ahead and sat down, staring into the sweet pond.

When Riba caught up, he stared down into the pond. Len lapped up some syrupy goodness as Riba caught sight of a sparkling object obscured in the sticky substance. He looked towards Len, who nodded after licking her lips to get rid of the pesky droplets of syrup. Riba took off his jacket and rolled up his sleeve, then, he plunged his hand into the syrup. He felt a circular object meet his grasp, it felt like it was made of pure light. As he pulled it out of the pond, a bright light flashed in front of his eyes.

When the light faded, he found himself as a child in his home in Syrupburg. He was yelling at someone. "Mom and dad always pay more attention to you!" He shouted, fighting through tears. "They don't trust me with anything, and they treat me like a child! You always get all the good things. The bigger fish, the more syrup, the more love!"

"Shut it!" A young girl yelled back. "If it weren't for me, you wouldn't even be here right now! I get good things because I work for them, but all you do is sit on your butt and cry!"

"That's not true!" Riba screeched. "I work too! I- I-!"

"Give me one example of when you ever did anything worthwhile," The girl muttered. "You're a worthless, whiny brat. No wonder mom and dad don't love you."

"Well... well... you're a jerk!" Riba shouted. "I hope you die! Just disappear and never come back!" This seemed to strike a nerve with the girl. She clenched her teeth and fists. Her eyes were obscured by her hair as she looked down to the ground. She then put her arm around her face and ran off. Sounds of sobbing could be heard.

"I'm going outside!" The girl shouted. "Don't follow me!" Riba did not feel sorry for her.

That night, the entire village was in a frenzy. Mayor Koopingston had declared a town-wide emergency over a runaway child. People scattered around the town, searching every nook and cranny, turning over any rock, for a girl named Koi Lakes, who had run away from her home just hours earlier for what her parents assumed (at the time) as a syrup run.

Nobody dared even believe the likelihood of Koi running away into the Honey Syrup Jungle. Miscreants, rogues, and monsters all collectively dwell in that jungle. A small adolescent like her would look like a little Honey Cookie to them. The parents were devastated and afraid. What could have happened to their little girl?

Alas, she never returned home. And the month-long search was concluded with no findings. She was declared dead. They never found the body. Riba knew exactly what happened to her. He was glad. His ears began to ring as white covered his vision.

Riba stumbled back from the pond. He held his head. "Agh!" He cried in pain.

Len looked over to him. "Are you quite done?" Len asked. Riba looked over to her with bewilderment and fear in his eyes.

"What just happened?!" Riba asked.

"That's what happens when you make contact with a memory fragment," Len said, matter-of-factly. "It's like it brings you back to the moment that it holds the memory of."

"You could have told me that before the fact," Riba muttered.

"I could have, but I did not find it necessary," Len replied. Almost mocking Riba.

"So you've finally returned," A voice echoed throughout the forest, making birds fly from the trees in escape of what could easily be mistaken as an earthquake. Although, at a second glance, it appeared they were instead landing atop the branches of the Heart Tree.

"Who's there?" Riba asked, cautiously.

"You truly don't remember me? Your own sister who you ran out of the family?" The voice returned. The sound of wood snapping and shifting against itself could be heard as a face emerged from the tree, made up of patterns in the bark. The face was very familiar. It looked like the face of the girl in the memory. "Insulting. A more worthy being would not forget the pain and suffering they've inflicted upon others, especially not of this caliber."

Riba took a step back, with a gasp. The tree itself was talking, the pattern in the bark shifting to mimic the movement of lips. The face looked genuinely offended. "You- you're..." He started.

"Silence!" The voice emanated with rage and misery. "Riba, you made me feel like an outsider, unworthy of love from my own family. Then you have the nerve to return to this place?! I will purge you from my presence if it's the last thing I do!" The ground began to rumble more intensely. Riba had trouble keeping his footing. He stumbled uncontrollably as the rivers of syrup shook and splashed. Animals fled from the waves as the jungle drowned in its own creation. If Riba and Len didn't act quickly, they would end up the same way. "Die! Die! Die!"

Riba ran, with Len perched on his shoulder. Amid all this, she was still about as expressive as a Super Mushroom. The jungle seemed to come alive around them, as trees fell exactly as they ran past as if they were deliberately trying to crush them. Crevasses opened as if to put a stop to their progress. Riba could see the grotesque forms of the Boogleys flashing in and out of sight as they went behind the trees. They were being hunted. Riba picked up his pace. He was a surprisingly fast runner when he wanted to be. He took a leap forward and sped up some more. Len seemed to be enjoying it.

A Boogley narrowed its brow and turned slightly to its left, it smashed a tree over as it tried to ram Riba and Len. Riba skidded to a stop as it rammed through the rest of the trees, until it trapped itself under one. Many more came Riba's way. He swiftly evaded all their attacks, but unlike the other one, they did not immediately get stuck afterwards. They kept coming back for more chances to joust Riba. Riba was beginning to get tired. He couldn't evade them much longer. Any one of these attempts could be the one that put an end to him in this body, and he would forget more and more, and he could not risk forgetting Mario. That's when he heard a loud creaking sound as a giant tree fell somewhere.

Riba looked towards the source of the noise, and saw the Heart Tree... falling. The carnage around it must have affected its own being, causing it to topple. That means the girl who resided within the tree, who was his sister in a previous life, was falling along with it. Soon, they would all be crushed. The Boogleys did not flee. Not like a deer in headlights, but like a hero taking their last stand in face of an unbeatable evil. Riba was the deer. A cry of agony. But not from the tree, it was from the Boogley who had been trapped of its own carelessness. It was unable to move, and the Heart Tree would crush it if someone didn't interfere. Riba looked to Len, who did not seem to care. He then looked at the Boogleys, who seemed to be trying to save their restrained friend.

In an instant, Riba considered his options. There was a good chance if he tried to save the Boogley and do the right thing, he would perish and possibly forget about the best life he ever had. He could forget Mario. Mario... Mario always wanted to do the right thing and help others even if it meant risking himself. Mario would want to help the poor Boogley. Maybe not in exchange for Riba, but Riba imagined how disappointed he would be if he didn't save him. He had to do it. For Mario's sake. The last thing Mario told Riba is that he would watch over him forever. Riba would not let himself disappoint Mario. No matter what it cost.

He leaped into action. As fast as he could, he ran over to the Boogleys, and joined in the effort to save the one that was trapped under the tree. Riba pushed with all his might. Len turned her head to the tree, which was quickly approaching. Soon, they would be crushed. Her yellow eye twinkled, and a giant black hand appeared and stopped the tree, pushing it back. Their efforts increased, as the girl in the tree screamed in the utmost agony. Finally, they managed to push the one fallen tree off the Boogley. It ran free, as did everyone else. Riba held on tightly to Len as they ran. The hand's grip on the Heart Tree began to weaken, as it let go. The tree continued its descent, as Riba and the Boogleys ran. Then, it made impact with the ground. The force it made sent Riba, Len, the Boogleys, and anything within half a mile's radius flying. Riba hit the ground much like the tree seconds before. It cut and scraped him, leaving his clothes and skin partially shredded. Damn, it hurt. Len floated down and landed on her feet. She pawed at Riba's arm. He was closing his eyes in hope to rest off the pain. As she continued, he opened his eyes.

"Len?" Riba asked. He held his arm. His elbow was bleeding profusely. "What just happened?"

"The impact from the tree falling sent you tumbling. You and the Boogleys are lucky to be alive," Len explained. The Boogleys swarmed around Riba. His pupils shrunk in fear. Were they going to take this opportunity to kill him?

"No, NO!" He shouted. He crawled backwards with his hands frantically, only to knock into the foot of another Boogley. They stared at him. Then, one opened its mouth wide.

A bellowing voice came out. "Thank you, being of the outside world," The Boogley said. "For your kindness and willingness to help others, we grant you your freedom, and our eternal gratitude." Riba stared at the Boogleys. They shook their heads in agreement.

Riba was dumbfounded. He did not know Boogleys could speak. Instead of questioning it, he gave a simple "you're welcome." Then, he heard distant wails. This caught his attention, as he looked for where they were coming from. It came from the direction of the Heart Tree. He and Len ran towards the fallen tree. The Boogleys followed.

As Riba approached the tree, the face of the girl was in view through the bark. She was crying and screaming in anguish. She opened her eyes when she heard the footsteps of Riba, Len and the Boogleys.

"You... This is all your fault!" She shouted, wooden tears falling from her wooden eyes. She sniffled. "I swore to protect this jungle, and you made me destroy it! You ruined everything! You're the reason I ran away in the first place!"

Riba opened his mouth to speak. "Don't utter a word!" She shrieked. "Riba, brother, I hate you! I hate you so much! Go back to Hell where you came from, you absolute waste!" A silence loomed in the air for what seemed like minutes. "Riba... I'm dying. I'm dying and it's your fault. Without my roots in place, I'll fade away along with this precious tree. What's left of Honey Syrup Jungle will die along with it. I want mom and dad back... But... I don't want you back!"

" !" She shrieked, using the last of her strength. The expression on her face was indescribable. A perfect mix of anguish, fear, and anger. All working in harmony to deliver the last message she would ever give. Hatred. The face then melted away into the tree, as all the plant life shriveled away, as the tree and its surroundings turned a dead gray. The syrup stopped flowing.

When Riba looked back to the Boogleys, they were nowhere to be seen. He and Len seemed to be the only living things for miles. Honey Syrup Jungle was dead.

"Why did you help me?" Riba asked, as he and Len began to walk through the desolate wasteland. Len transformed into her human form, and faced Riba.

"I did not do it out of any sort of sentimental attachment," She said. "I did it because, for the sake of this experiment, I cannot lose you. It would be a terrible inconvenience." She stopped speaking when she noticed the sad expression on Riba's face.

"That's all I really amount to, right?" Riba asked. "I bet Mario didn't even care that much. He left me without even saying goodbye." Len stared at Riba. Eyes gazing into each other.

"You will get through this," Len said. "Your willingness to be with him yet again will be fruitful. This is all that stands in your way. Before we proceed, I need you to assure me that you will not give up, lest I scrap this version of you and just get another. You did something foolish, and I had to pay for it," Len stated. "But it was a good thing you did. You have changed your fate, and this will take us down a new path. A possible path to success."

Riba looked at Len with pain in his eyes. He closed them and nodded in acceptance, wearing a somber expression. "Where to next?" Riba asked. His soul was intent on finishing this and being with his loved one again as soon as possible.

Len opened another tear in space. Through it, Riba could see the blurry image of a farm far out in the countryside of what seemed to be the ghost town of Myceliumalia, Mushroom Kingdom. It was not unlike the farm that Riba and Mario lived on. Riba knew he saw this farm somewhere before. Perhaps in a dream, a vision, or the inevitable answer, another life. Without hesitation, he stepped in.

Chapter 8: A Fungal Farce

When Riba stepped out, the sky was darkened. Strange. From what he could remember, Honey Syrup Jungle and Myceliumalia were in the same time zone, and it was just afternoon when he left the jungle. That's when he realized the far-off factories in the distance pumping some unknown black smoke into the air, with the late day sunlight just peeping through the clouds of toxins. Angry looking Toads that looked like they just came in on a boat from Rogueport patrolled the toxic wasteland of what used to be a quaint farming society, their faces covered in gas masks. Riba had to cover his mouth to prevent gagging on the chemical waste flowing in the air.

Len stepped through the portal and stood by Riba. She did not seem to have any trouble breathing the stuff. "How can you stand this?" Riba asked, his words muffled by his hand over his mouth.

"If I've learned anything in my long life, it's that some things must be answered later rather than sooner," Len replied, a hint of mystery to her voice. She walked forward, a jolt went throughout Riba's body as he realized he was meant to follow. But... She was walking straight into the mob of Toads!

"What are you doing?" Riba whispered harshly. "You're going to get us killed!" Then, Riba realized that the Toads were not moving. Nor was anything. Oh yeah. Len could stop time.

Why had she not done that sooner?

Riba followed Len towards... Wherever she was taking him. Some unrelenting, indescribable feeling compelled Riba to break from her lead and go explore the farmhouse. It seemed comforting to him, in some strange way. As he began to depart towards the house, he felt Len's tiny hand grab his. It gripped it like a blood pressure tourniquet on mushrooms. "Follow. Me," She muttered through gritted teeth, annoyed by Riba's lack of obedience.

"Hey, wait!" Riba hissed. "All your magical powers... Stopping time, opening portals, why did you not do that all the other times we needed it?"

"I don't want to ruin my own experiment when I could instead be finding the culprit of exactly that," Len stated. "I already gave enough input with the hand that stopped the Heart Tree from turning you into tuna salad, fish boy. However, here I see no possible future where you could get through those Toads without disappointing your precious Mario."

Ouch. Given Len's true motives here, that did make sense. But what did she mean about Mario? "What do you mean without disappointing Mario? Do you mean that he's..." Riba started. Of course he felt some sort of divine bond with Mario, like he was somehow watching over him from an ethereal plane, but could Len be hinting that that was literally what was going on?

"After looking over the history of this quest, and all the details supporting it, I am coming to that conclusion... In one way or another," Len answered, leaving Riba with more questions that he thought he shouldn't ask.

"Where are you taking me, exactly?" Riba asked, finding the walk pointless and boring. "The farm, it was calling to me..."

"Toads are in that farmhouse," Len said. "If we can knock out that mycelium plant, we can, in layman's terms, have them turn into mere bricks and horsetail plants. Do not worry, they won't die. It will simply clear a path for us."

"Why not just walk in there now?" Riba asked, filled with more questions than he ever had in his lives. "Surely with time being stopped..."

"There's too many. The time stop spell will wear off before we even push our way to the second floor," Len said. "Using a portal would be pointless, as it would cancel out the time stop, leaving us open to attack before we even get in. This is not as simple as you think it is."

"I guess, but right after that we should check out the farmhouse. I felt it compelling me to go there, like there was something we needed," Riba said.

"What you feel is a memory fragment inside the farmhouse," Len stated. "There is no need for concern, we will be there soon enough."

"Wait, you said the time stop spell will wear off eventually..." Riba said, his voice shaking. The Toads were starting to move and notice their presence, very slowly. "When exactly should that happen?"

"Hmm..." Len thought it over. She looked at her surroundings and gauged the time they had until the spell wore off completely. "Now."

"What?!" Riba shouted. As he did, the Toads began to charge at them, spears and pitchforks in hand. A portal opened in the ground and they fell through. Len switched into her cat form for purposes of agility. They seemed to be in the plant now. It must be fueling the Toads through some underground stalk network. Riba had been reading up on mushrooms and how they worked in Evangeline, after seeing some strange mushrooms he didn't recognize back at the mansion. The red one seemed to have had the same effect on Mario as an old-timey orange-red Super Mushroom, which made Riba guess it was probably an evolution. The book was terribly outdated. Although it did list a poisonous mushroom that could kill whoever ate it. Given the skull pattern that was on the purple mushroom, Riba figured that was an evolution as well. Good thing he didn't give Mario the purple mushroom.

Something else he read in the book was relating to the first Great Koopa War, where King Kappar had kidnapped Queen Vanity Toadstool and trapped her in a castle far away from her home. He had his young witch assistant, Kammy Koopa, cast a spell on Vanity that inhibited her mycelium powers, turning the Toad people into bricks and horsetail plants. Since Mario had killed Princess Peach, who got those same powers due to her blood relation to Vanity, the Toads must have set up factories to pump the very energy that turned them into what they were. Peachette was new at her job, and possibly didn't even have the same powers as Peach. Riba had heard rumors of an attempt to overthrow Peachette for her irresponsibility and ill treatment of the Super Crown, the item that gave her her Peachette form.

Riba's theorizing was interrupted as he heard a whistle as something headed his way. It was a Koopa shell that seemed to be flashing blue and yellow. He and Len jumped, narrowly avoiding being hit with the shell like a hockey puck to the leg. Unlike many Koopa shells, it seemed to be moving freely, like it had a homing beacon placed exactly where Riba was. The alarms in the plant went haywire, alerting more Koopas. Soon, the room was a constant frenzy of shells flying and trying to hit Riba and Len. Jumping on them did nothing, these were elite Koopas, some of the strongest in Bowser's army. Then, there were blue, spiky, flying Koopa shells that would stomp down on Riba and Len, and create a small explosion equal to that of a Bob-Omb. It was absolute chaos!

Len's blue and yellow eyes flashed as she latched herself onto the wall with her claws. Two fists joined together and swung at the Koopas, knocking them against the wall. They fell unconscious. A portal opened, and Riba fell through. Only then did the hands punch a pillar holding up the ceiling, causing it to cave in. Len jumped through the portal to avoid getting hurt. They landed on the rubble. A portal opened underneath the buried Koopas, who were still breathing, and dumped them onto the grass below. Len looked at Riba and smiled, knowing it's what he wanted. Riba gave a sad smile back.

A sound caught their attention. It sounded like a computer going on the fritz. All the fighting must have disrupted the wiring. The main computer was gone! The ugly smoke stopped pouring out of the pipes. The sky cleared. Riba watched as all the Toads turned to bricks and plants. He felt bad for them, but knew it was a necessary sacrifice. Len looked to Riba and nodded, signaling him to go to the farmhouse.

When they arrived, they had to toss out some bricks to make their way into the farmhouse. The place seemed like it had been abandoned for years. Dust and cobwebs covered the walls and floor. Drawers looked like they had been ransacked. The place was picked clean of any furniture or food. A rat scurried across the floor. Len hit it with her paw, sending it flying to places unknown. Riba looked as it flew into the next room.

"I know the purge was bad here," Riba said. "But I didn't know people were this desperate." Riba looked to the right, where a lone brick was inside a sleeping bag, with what seemed to be a syringe next to it. Small blood splotches were on the floor and on the brick. Riba did not want to know what happened.

As they made their way upstairs, Riba was further disturbed by how unkempt this place was. Feces, urine, and countless plastic bags of illicit drugs were scattered across the place. It was disgusting. He gagged. Len switched back to her human form, likely sick of her acute sense of smell as a cat. Understandable. This place was an absolute pigsty. Riba almost preferred it when the smoke was burning his nostrils.

Riba watched where he stepped over broken floorboards and holes that went down to the floor below. As well as what seemed to be the decomposed corpse of a squirrel. It had been torn open and its organs were ripped out. It had been dead for months. Did the Toads eat it?

Finally, a glistening object caught Riba's eye. It was a colorful blue orb emanating with a faint glow. Riba reached out to touch it. His ears rang as his vision went to white.

He found himself in yet another memory. A grin was plastered on his face as he held a beer bottle in his hands. Just moments ago, he had chugged it to the point of it spilling down his face and shirt. He was breathing heavily as he took another swig of the alcoholic beverage. The room around him was an absolute mess. Clothing and crumbs of food littered the carpet. He had tunnel vision. He had drank too much. He heard sobbing coming from downstairs, but he was too much under the influence of his drink to process it.

His memory was fuzzy, likely due to the fact that he had been drinking day and night constantly. Spotty had died the day before, his own Yoshi. Spotty had been his best friend for years, but last night robbers broke into his house. Spotty, the loyal Yoshi he is, sprung to defend the family who were fast asleep. He stomped repeatedly on the first robber, but the second one managed to get a shot at him, which he took. The Yoshi grunted in pain, but continued to fight. The gunshot had alerted Riba to wake up and grab his musket, which he always had handy on a shelf by his bed. He ran downstairs and held the gun out to the robber, whose face was obscured by a Shy Guy's mask. But it was a New-Donker. The robber fled, and Riba ran to the aid of Spotty.

He didn't make it through the night. So Riba, without telling the children or his wife, left the bodies there and went down to the cellar to crack open a cold one. He drank the night away past the time sunlight crept through his blinds. He decided to go down to the cellar for one more. After all, it was just a beer. How much could it hurt?

Another sharp ringing. Riba snapped out of the flashback. He held the memory fragment in his hand, he turned it over and watched its contents play out in front of him again like the orb was a TV. Len stared at it. She was beginning to recognize a pattern with these specific fragments. Though she dare not tell Riba.

Riba suddenly hunched over with a sharp inhale of air. He clenched his stomach, which felt like it as about to burst. He couldn't keep it in. He vomited violently onto the floor. Since he had not had much to eat, it was mostly just bile. Len took a step back. It was so painful. He breathed heavily in and out once it was over. He wiped his mouth with a napkin he had brought with him from the farm. He took a deep breath. It was over. He was thankful for that. He threw the napkin in a trash pile.

"God..." Riba gasped. "That was horrible."

"I concur," Len replied, showing a face of slight disgust as she looked at the puddle on the floor.

"Come on. We should keep moving. Where do we go now?" Riba asked. Len opened yet another portal.

"In here," Len told Riba. It seemed to be a front-yard view of a run-down mansion. The sight was all too familiar to him. The Aduraice residence. It belonged to the wicked woman who stole Mario away from Riba. It brought back painful memories of what seemed to be an eternity in limbo. Riba had spent the majority of his time here, and against his will too. And now, he had to go back. With a deep sigh, he stepped in.

Chapter 9: NoT ReALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL

The portal closed behind Riba. Len didn't follow him through. "Len?" Riba asked, terrified. He didn't want to be out here alone. He couldn't be out here all alone. No response. Riba sighed. Len might be afraid of this place too. The quickest way to get this over with was to find the memory fragment, and then search for Len. Wherever she might be.

"Boo," A voice said from behind Riba. He turned around with a jump, and saw Len in cat form.

"God, Len!" Riba shouted. "You nearly gave me a heart attack!"

"Haha, my apologies," Len laughed, relishing the child-like fright on his face. "Anyways, here we are at Aduraice Mansion. The place spoken about in rumors..."

"Yeah, I know, I've been here already for quite a while," Riba interrupted Len, who seemed annoyed by it. "I thought you'd already know that, what with all your know-it-all of every step I make." He walked ahead, not minding the rain pelting him in the face. On second thought, Mario had been right all those years ago. It did feel like needles.

Riba had been such a horrible person to Mario way back when. What he then saw as annoying he now saw as charming and lovable. He felt bad. He just hoped all his kindness to Mario in the last years of his life made up for it.

"Riba..." A high-pitched voice said. It sounded just like Mario. Riba, his heart skipping a beat, looked around frantically. He could swear he heard Mario in one blissful moment, calling his name. He looked at Len.

"That's not fucking funny!" He shouted, overcome with rage. Len seemed to be playing some sick mind game with him, mimicking Mario's voice to get his hopes up for a second, just to crush them under her paw the next. "Don't mimick Mario like that... or at all!"

"I didn't do anything," Len said. "Riba, you're not acting mentally sound. Is it this place getting to you already?" Riba stared down the cat. He was fed up with her. The second he looked away, he heard it again.

"Riba..." Mario's voice said. "I can see you, you pathetic piece of garbage." Riba snapped his head back at Len as they approached the mansion's gates. He was furious.

"Did you hear me?!" Riba yelled, hurt and offended. "You're messed up in the head! Stop it!" Riba caught himself before he said more. Len looked at him, a hint of hurt in her poor little eyes. They seemed... strange somehow. Riba realized how he was acting. He was acting just like he did with Mario all those years ago. "Ah..."

"Are you okay, Riba?" Len asked. "Have you become obsolete again?"

_Again? What was this cat talking about?_

"No, it's just..." Riba said. "It's nothing... Just please, stop. It's not nice."

"I told you I'm not doing anything!" Len hissed. She suddenly seemed more... Alive. She was displaying actual emotion far more than usual. Riba thought he had hurt her feelings. "Are you stupid?!"

Len and Riba stared at each other for a few moments. Something was wrong. Riba narrowed his eyes. Static covered his vision and ears for a second, when he swore he could see... A dead cat that looked like Len. He gasped. "Len?!" Riba asked, fear in his voice. "What just...? You were..."

Len grinned widely, cat ear to cat ear. "Ah... You saw me..." She said. "You've seen the truth..." Riba backed away. Len walked forward at the same pace. "We can't have that, now can we?" She let out a hiss, with a psychotic, open smile on her face. Her teeth were humongous, and her tongue like that of a snake. She tried to pounce Riba. He dodged out of the way. Without thinking, he instinctively ran to a place of solitude from Len. The mansion's front yard.

He pushed open the gate as Len prepared to pounce again. "Meow!" She mimicked the sound of a normal cat ready to gobble up a mere mouse as her claws became visible. They shined in the moonlight. Her eyes were that of a predator as she quickly approached Riba. The gate was so heavy, and hard to push open. Riba grunted as he put all his effort into opening it... Success! He ran in and shut the gate behind him, Len wildly clawing at him from in between the bars. "Bad kitty!" He exclaimed. She managed to nick his arm a little, but didn't do much damage. As soon as the gate was secured, Riba ran to the front door. Only to find... There was no front door!

"It picked the perfect time to disappear again!" Riba shouted to himself. He then realized the wild scratching at the gate had ceased, replaced by the sound of metal clanking against metal. He turned back. Mario was holding onto the bars and crying. "Mario!" Riba cried. He ran towards the gate.

"Riba!" Mario called out, he was crying uncontrollably. "Please... Let me in... The rain, it feels like needles..."

"Mario, don't worry!" Riba cried once more, fiddling desperately with the lock. His hands were shaking like he was some sort of addict. An addict to Mario.

As Riba tried to undo the lock, he thought about this situation he was in. Mario was right there. If he could just... Open... The lock... He could be with him again. He could tell him everything he wanted to say, shower him with affection, hugs, and kisses like he always wanted to. Tears flowed from his eyes. "Mario..." Riba said, through chokes and sobs. "I'm going to save you. Don't worry."

"Riba... I have something to tell you." Mario cried, he was beginning to sob too. "But please, you need to let me in..."

"I will, I will!" Riba panicked. His heart was beating out of his chest. Either from the adrenaline of running from Len or the melancholic anticipation of what Mario was going to tell him. "Please hold on..." Finally, Riba had managed to keep his hands coordinated enough to unlock the gate. Mario pushed it open with inhuman strength and ran towards Riba, arms wide open. Riba knelt down and extended his arms forward. He caught Mario in a big hug under the night sky. "Mario..." 

"Riba..." Mario gasped. He was crying beyond any sort of reason. "I need to tell you..."

"Shh, shh, shh..." Riba hushed Mario, holding him tightly and holding the back of his hand to his mouth in a soft kiss. His hand was as cold as ice, he may have been coming down with hypothermia from being in this cold weather so long. "Deep breaths..."

"Riba... It's been so long... I need to tell you..." Mario whined. "...I love you!" Riba's heart stopped, and then started beating at an incredibly fast rate, like it was going to explode. Mario just said he loved him. Then he realized why his heart was really beating so fast. He felt a sharp pain just above his waist region. When he looked down, he saw a trickle of blood coming down from the side of his tummy. Mario's once gloved hand had morphed into a bigger version of Len's claw, and it had been shoved into his side. "Me-ow..." Mario said. His vision began to blur as his heartbeat echoed throughout his entire body. As he looked up at Mario, tears in his eyes, he saw it. A pair of dead blue eyes, and a smirk going across his darkened face.

This wasn't Mario.

What had Riba done?

Riba fell unconscious. In his dream, he was in a dark cave. He heard bits and pieces of a conversation coming from the other side of the wall. He turned the corner and saw three cloaked figures. He could hear some words clearly now. "Riba... Betrayal... He will pay... Ruin..." It was Mario's voice. A wave of terror came over Riba. What was going on?

Riba felt weightless, like he was being carried by waves. Over and over again, his vision would drift downwards to the floor as if someone was pushing his head down, trying to prevent him from seeing any more. He felt sick. He became so dizzy. Then, he blacked out again.

There was a jolt of pain, and Riba woke up in an instant. He found himself in the library of the mansion, strapped up to what seemed to be an electrical contraption. A torture device. Then, what seemed like a nine year old girl walked into the room. She had black hair, dead blue eyes, and a calm smile.

"So he lives..." The girl squealed, faking happiness. She stared at Riba and laughed. "So you're the one... The one they call Riba?"

"Who are you?" Riba asked, fearful for his life. He recognized those eyes. Those were the same eyes the thing that appeared to be Mario and Len had.

"Why, where are my manners?" She giggled. "I am an entity known as Helvetica, the eternal oversight, master of deception! Perhaps a trait I inherited from my auntie, hmm?"

"You're an entity?" Riba questioned. "Ah, that's beside the point. Let me go!"

"And tell me, why would I do that?" Helvetica asked. A sweat went down Riba's forehead. Then, she pressed a button. An electric shock. Riba screamed in agony.

"AAAAAHHHH!" Riba cried. "AAAAAAHHHH!" It was so painful. Like needles.

"Ahahaha..." Helvetica laughed. "Oh, this is such a hilarious display. Riba, the arch-demon who killed off my entire family... Strapped down and tortured like a lowly dog! Oh, what joy!"

As Riba continued to be electrocuted, he screamed more and more. His screams echoing through the empty halls. This made the girl erupt in laughter again. It stopped temporarily, giving Riba a slight break as Helvetica spoke.

"So what are you gonna do, huh? Kill me?" Riba asked. He took heavy breaths in and out.

"Oh, no, no!" Helvetica said, shocked. She made frantic hand gestures as her gaze softened. "Why would I do that?" Riba sighed in relief. "Instead, I'm going to keep you here... I'll torture you until you're at the brink of death, then leave you crippled and weak until the next session! I'll have you forever!"

Riba gasped. This girl was insane. "Oh, but surely... That must be fine with you when I assume his form, hmm?" Helvetica asked. She morphed and twisted into the form of Mario. Riba grunted as he attempted to get out of his restraints and do... something... he wasn't quite sure. He couldn't hurt her, though. "It's quite pathetic if I do say so myself... And I do! You are so madly in love with him that you'll worship anyone who looks the least bit like him! Ohohoho!"

"Now, I believe I do owe you an explanation..." Helvetica stated. She smiled wide. "I was the last remaining member of the Aduraice family, except, you know... you. But you already know that, right? You completely forgot about me like everyone does. Almost like I'm that tall purple plumber... Wuigi, was it?"

She morphed into a grotesquely skinny Italian plumber. She almost looked like that statue in the back of the old Aduraice residence. "Wah!" She cried. Riba almost jumped out of his skin, which actually would be useful right about now.

"Ahahaha..." Helvetica changed back into what Riba could only assume was her true form. "Ah, what a funny man... how fun he was to play with... anyways, where was I...? Oh yeah..."

She took a step closer to Riba. "You had auntie Alice pick my entire family clean. If not for that, I would have never returned to this place to look for my brother and sister, Leo and Rae. Only to find them dead, killed by that wretched woman under your evil spell. My family never paid any attention to me. Sometimes, I questioned if they knew I even existed. The lowly servants, Alfred Banks, and Rosa Fishington were the only ones who ever paid me any mind."

"So now... As retribution for my family, and moreover myself, enjoy your eternity in constant misery, as God knows you can't die of natural causes," She said, getting uncomfortably close to Riba. She pressed the button again, and zaps of electricity coursed through his veins. It was so painful. Riba needed to escape this place, but how?

Riba struggled once more to break his restraints, as the girl walked off with a "ta-ta," and a wave. Nothing happened. He tried calling out for help. "Can you hear me? Anybody?" He shouted. Nobody answered. That's when he saw, out of the corner of his eye, a glistening object. A colorful one. It seemed to be hooked up to the wires he was encased in. A memory fragment! These weren't electric shots. The were coursing with the power of memories. Riba closed his eyes, and focused on the rhythm of the shocks. They sent a message to his brain in morse code, triggering a vision to play out before his eyes.

This vision was different. It was grainy, and it had no color. Likely a result of the crude way it was being communicated. Riba and Alice were sitting at their bedroom table, having an argument. "Riba, I don't want to do this anymore! Please!" Alice whispered, as to not alert anyone else in the house.

"Babe, don't worry... You're being paranoid..." Riba whispered into her ear. He breathed on her neck. "It will all be fine once we're together forever."

"I don't want to kill my last sister..." Alice whined. She was being too loud. Riba sent a fist full of force across her face, knocking her to the floor. She held her cheek where he hit her. "Riba..."

"You disobedient, disgusting woman..." Riba muttered. "Keep your voice down, before someone hears you. Listen to me." Riba cupped Alice's bruised face in his hands. He looked at her with the eyes of a wild animal. She stared back in pure fear. "It will all be worth it. You love no one but me. You will kill anyone at my whim, and your sister will be no different." Riba softened his tone as he stuffed a pill into her mouth. "Now take your medicine. It will all be better soon."

The medicine made the pain fade away. Alice's face went numb. She choked as she swallowed the big pill. She coughed for a second, she had been forced to take this medicine chronically for the past few weeks, ever since Riba introduced the idea of the ritual to her. It made her his puppet, an obedient, submissive young lady, who was willing to do anything for Riba. Her only love. The only one she cared about.

"M'lady?!" Alfred, their butler, asked as he slammed the door open. He looked at Alice, still on the floor, bruised. He ran over to her and helped her up. "What has this man done to you?!"

"Oh, Alfred... I just fell out of my chair. It is quite alright," Alice lied, rubbing her cheek. Alfred gave Riba a suspicious glare.

She burnt her sister, Mercy, in the fireplace that night. The memory ended. Riba woke up in an instant. He found the memory fragment in his hands. It seemed dulled by its usage for the torture device. So far, it seemed likely that Alice was the one who was out to get him. Riba had been so terrible to her, he was evil and abusive to her. He wanted desperately to make it up to her. Once they crossed paths again, Riba would make things right. He promised himself.

"Up so early, darling?" The form of Mario walked into the library. Riba stared with a calm gaze as he walked up to him.

"Quit it with your mind games," Riba said. "I have the memory fragment. Your contraption is useless now."

"Oh, getting feisty, are we?" Helvetica's voice spoke through Mario's mouth. She shifted back to her true form. "I must say, I certainly did not expect that from a lowly being like you, Riba. However... There is one problem."

"And what is that?" Riba asked as Helvetica revealed something she'd been hiding behind her back. It was a large butcher's knife. Riba gasped. He was still restrained. "Oh no..."

"Oh, how rich! You actually thought you had won? Have you forgotten you're still tied up?" Helvetica asked. Insanity shone in her gaze. "You're completely defenseless against me. I told you I will keep you here forever."

Helvetica brandished the knife, holding it high in the air. Light reflected off of it as it sparkled. She plunged it where Riba's face was, but he moved and it instead hit the wood behind Riba. She tried to pull it out, as Riba attempted to break free. Nothing. She slashed at him over and over again. It was a miracle he was even able to survive that long. This action slit the restraints off, and Riba was free. As he got up, Helvetica swung the knife in a fashion that could have taken his head off had he not ducked just in the nick of time. He ran from her. His entire body stung after being tied up in the rough material. It was like sandpaper. Riba ran out of the library and down the stairs. Knowing the front door would be gone, he instead took a turn to the right and headed towards the left wing. He exited out into the garden.

"Riba! Come back here!" Mario's voice emanated from inside. She was still pursuing him. Riba needed to stop himself from giving in to her temptations. He looked at the cliff. His heart sank. The planks that were there before had disappeared. He looked back at the house. He heard footsteps and Helvetica's laughter coming up on him fast. He looked back at the pit. He had one shot at this. Mustering up all his courage and taking a deep breath, he took a running start, and jumped.

He reached desperately for the other side. His arms flailed like a cartoon character. He finally made contact with the other side. His hand slipped. He fell.

It took him a moment to realize exactly what was happening. He had failed. He had one chance, and he messed it up. His punishment was a temporary death. As he fell, he prayed to the Gods above, every last one of them, that in his next life, he would forget anything but Mario. He couldn't forget Mario. Mario had brought him so much happiness in his life, more than anyone else has. More than even Elizabeth. More than his two daughters.

As the tingling feeling in his chest became more and more intense, Riba closed his eyes. He was ready for his death. He would have wished to die without regrets, but he had plenty. And he was going to have to face them. In the next life.

The surface got farther and farther away as he continued to fall into blackness. Then, he felt something catch him. It was like a big hand. He felt the sensation of slowly rising up. He opened his eyes, to find that he was, in fact, on a humongous hand. The surface was getting closer. He was going to make it! Helvetica burst out the door, laughing. She brandished the knife and looked down at Riba.

"You won't escape me!" She laughed. Then, a black cat pounced her to the ground and restrained her. Struggling could be heard as Riba jumped onto the cement on the other side of the cliff. He was alive! He smiled thankfully, as he took a deep breath of air. He was cold, hurt, and hungry, but he didn't care. He was alive. And he had a second shot at this. Then he realized. Len!

He turned around, only to see a black cat with dead blue eyes that had another cat in its mouth. The second cat had been stabbed repeatedly. "See you next time," The first cat said. It dropped the second one onto the ground with a splat as it walked through the door.

"LEN!" Riba called. Len had lost the fight. She looked up, her eyes were emotionless as always, but still heavily focused. She was not dead.

"Riba..." Len said. A sharp inhale. "Take these." Her eyes glowed, and two circular objects seemed to come out of them. Their details were obscured by the whitest of lights. They floated slowly over the cliff, until they dropped in Riba's hands. The light faded. They seemed to be... Blue and yellow contacts? Riba looked back at Len, whose eyes were gray.

"Len... You're giving me these...?" Riba asked. He stared at Len as she lay dying. She had some trinket in her hand. A good luck charm, perhaps? Riba didn't question it.

"Abor... You still have a responsibility..." Len said. She coughed, becoming weaker by the second. "You must make things right. Find the person who started all this..." Her voice cracked. "Bring them to justice. I don't care how... But do it... Please..." Riba looked at the contacts. Then back at Len. She no longer was able to support her magical cat form, and turned back into her human form.

"I will, Len!" Riba called. "And thank you! Thank you for everything!"

Len did not respond. She ignored Riba. Then she muttered something under her breath. "Kanna, I'm coming..."

Riba looked as the life left Len's body. She faded away into little specks of light, piece by piece. All that was left was her cloak. It flew over to the other side of the cliff on accord of the wind. Riba picked it up, and donned it. He would not let Len's sacrifice be in vain. He understood this meant he couldn't be with Mario again. So he needed to do what was right. Before anything else, he needed to fix his mistakes. He wanted to make up for everything he's done to other people. He wanted to let them know he was sorry.

And he knew exactly where he should start.

Chapter 10: The Cat Who Could Change Fate

Riba put in the contacts. Before him, there was a flash of images. He fully indulged in the tune they sang. They sang a tale of sisterly bonds, ones that can never be broken. They sang of loss, death, and grieving. They sang of a little girl named Len, and her twin sister, Kanna.

Len was a fun-loving, affectionate girl. Kanna was slightly older, and was more mischievous than her twin. Len and Kanna were born in a small town called Felinaville in the Sprixie Kingdom. They lived happy lives, until a horrible calamity came along. This calamity shook the earth and took dozens of lives. It caused horrible suffering, and it was all because of the two sisters. They had been making arts and crafts one day, when Len created a beautiful brooch with a crescent moon on it. She was pretending that she was a wizard as opposed to Kanna's black knight. The two were playing a game where the wizard had to defeat the evil knight who had taken over the kingdom.

"With the power of my fantastic brooch, I wish to bring storm upon your castle!" Len cried. She thrust her arm forward to mimic the strike of a lightning bolt. Unfortunately, the brooch had been put under a spell by Kanna that would make anything they wished for while wearing it come true.

A flurry of lightning bolts struck Felinaville. Len and Kanna huddled together, squealing. They were both very afraid of lightning and thunder. They looked out the window as people outside screamed and ran for shelter. The nearby ocean brought upon tidal waves that wiped people out. Len and Kanna were crying, afraid for their lives. Kanna looked at Len angrily as the lights went out and bell trees fell around them.

"This is your fault!" Kanna screamed, shakiness in her voice. "You weren't supposed to say that!"

"What did I do?!" Len cried.

"I put a spell on the brooch so that any wish you made would come true, you idiot!" Kanna shouted. "Give me that, before you mess anything else up!"

Kanna snatched the brooch off of Len's neck, snapping it in half and scraping the child by accident. Len held her wound and cried some more. They were panicking, and didn't know what to do. They were just children. They sat crying until the storm passed. They were very lucky to survive. But that would all be for nothing when the next day came. At least, not for Kanna.

Their parents had heard what was happening and came downstairs after the storm had passed. Their parents weren't always the kindest to them. Sometimes Kanna had to protect Len from them. They were furious at their children, and ordered for them to be executed the next day. Len always knew their parents were bad people, but this shattered her world. Kanna simply looked down at the ground and cried silently.

They were placed in the dungeon, awaiting their execution. Kanna kept her distance from Len in their tiny little underground cell. Len decided to speak up. "I'm sorry..." She said, hardly audible.

"I'm sorry, too..." Kanna said. She seemed distant. "I just wanted to make you happy." Len's eyes sparkled.

"That's all I want for you, too..." She said. Kanna looked over.

"But I'm always so mean to you..." Kanna mumbled. Len could tell she was trying not to cry. "You shouldn't want me to be happy."

Len ran up to her sister and hugged her tightly. Feeling her warm embrace gave her joy in this cold, unforgiving dungeon. "I'm glad I can spend the end of my life with you..." Len said. She smiled warmly. Kanna cracked a smile too as she cried.

"You know... I don't deserve forgiveness for what I've done... I hurt so many people, I should have been more careful..." Kanna said through sobs. She put something in Len's hand. It was the brooch. "Please, use this to save your life, not mine. It can only grant one wish now, and only when you're about to die. Please. I want you to be happy."

Len took the brooch and nodded, tears welling up in her eyes. She hugged Kanna again. "But I don't want you to go away!" Kanna stroked Len's hair, trying to comfort the poor child. She loved her so much, she was her twin sister after all. But Kanna was the first-born, and it was her duty to protect Len. Even if it cost her her own life.

Then, the next day came. Kanna was the first one to go. Len wanted to follow her, screaming at the guards to let her sister go. She was shoved back and fell onto the cold, hard floor. She tried to break the bars, screeching to let her sister go. She was hushed by the dozens of other inmates. She sat on the floor and cried.

She then remembered the storybook Kanna would read to her when they were very, very little. It was called "The Cat Who Could Change Fate," and it centered around a sad girl who one day, got turned into a cat. She was able to change her own fate and extend her life, making new friends and leaving her old, cruel life behind. Len held the brooch to her chest and made her wish.

"I wish... To be the cat who could change fate," She whispered. Then, she dropped the brooch. When she looked down at her hands, she saw little black paws. She was a little kitten now. Picking up the brooch in her mouth, she squeezed through the bars and ran out of the dungeon. People were in awe as she walked past on all four of her cat legs. She escaped, and saw the sunlight. She was going to run somewhere far away. She was going to run until these people couldn't find her anymore. As she ran to the pipe that would take her to the Mushroom Kingdom, she saw Kanna, on her knees, hands tied behind her back. Her father and mother were holding on to her, ready to drown her. A crowd gathered around, eager to see her die.

Len tried to call out to her, but all that came out was a cat's mew. Kanna looked over to the source, and saw the cat. She smiled, and mouthed the words "I love you," before her head was plunged underwater by her own parents. Len ran to the pipe, and went far, far away. But not before going home and grabbing her favorite cloak, as well as Kanna's spell book. Then, she ran away. Never to return to the Sprixie Kingdom.

Len became a wandering salesgirl. She would walk from place to place, trying to get as far away from the Sprixie Kingdom as possible. She just barely scraped by on the money she got selling magical trinkets. She had to participate in the black market just to get her goods out to the world. It was a very scary time in her life.

No matter how far she went, there was one question that kept bothering her, like somebody tugging her tail. Why did this have to happen to Kanna? Why? They loved each other so much, and it was Len's fault. She should have been the one who died. So Len made a decision. If she was going to prevent something like this from happening to anyone else, she would conduct an experiment on human nature, see what drives them to do what they do, including kill their own kind in cold blood.

She had many people participate. She put a spell on her trinkets that made it so they could give in to the people's desires in exchange for their freedom. Some wanted money, some wanted attention, some wanted love, some wanted food. It didn't matter which one they wanted. They took up the offer of selling their freedom.

When Kanna died, Len had lost her sense of self. She lost her emotions, what made Len... Len. Her emotions and personality were split into a separate entity that has no name, that does not exactly exist alongside us. Len was left as a shell of who she once was. At some point, she had stumbled across a settlement. A small, unnamed town of many different cultures and species. A rare sight in the Mushroom Kingdom, most of the residents there were just Toads. This town was different. Len had found a lovely Goomba couple that accepted her into the family with open arms.

Then, there were the Witch Wars. The clergyman of Evangeline had labeled all species other than New Donkers as witches, and decided that they must be destroyed. Len hid under a sofa as a cat as Marchionne Evangelisti himself broke into the ablaze building. He ground the crisp remains of the Goombas under his foot. He hated Goombas. After this, Len became homeless once more. She had taken to following Marchionne, trying to find out more about him. Perhaps, even to kill him for what he did to her family. Marchionne had never thought much of it. Just a stray cat in need of an owner. He never let her in the house. Although sometimes, she would be fed scraps of food and left warm bowls of milk. It was humiliating to consume such things, but she really had no other choices of nourishment.

One day, Marchionne had left his window open as he went to church, and his maid was busy cleaning downstairs. A few months ago, it seemed another man was living in the house alongside Marchionne, but today he was nowhere to be found. Len climbed up to the window, and took a good look at one of Marchionne's many diaries he had collected over the years.

Marchionne had executed Luciano, his own twin brother. The other man in the house. The town was beginning to suspect that they were twins, and if they did, Marchionne would be executed. Len felt some sort of pity for Marchionne from what she found in his diaries. He had been a shut-in his entire childhood, only able to go outside when his parents weren't looking. His parents would sometimes even get physical when he asked them to go outside. It was awful. And soon, he was going to die. Alone.

Len felt that in some way, this was just justice being administered to Marchionne for his many sins throughout life. It was comforting in a way. But something about how Marchionne whined for his brother back reminded Len of Kanna, and the bond they shared, and how she was murdered as a result of her actions. She could not let anything like that happen again. Such was her duty in the experiment, right?

On one of Marchionne's many walks, Len approached him in her human form. She had offered him the very brooch that could grant wishes, that she had made all that time ago. She explained to him the conditions of this trade, and after some hesitation, and mental manipulation, he obliged. She was now his test subject. He would be reborn to serve her in her experiment. Thus, was the origin of Mario himself.

When Riba broke out of his trance, he realized he was crying. It was such a sad truth that sometimes, people get taken from us. And we are powerless to get them back. But unless Riba wanted to end up like Len, he could not let the loss of the one person he cared about ruin his life.

Riba had to live for himself. Not for Len, or even Mario. But for Riba.

And Riba could only live with himself if he undid all his sins. His eye twinkled, and a huge hand rose from the garden cliff and served as a stepping stone into the next chapter of his life, as he walked back into the mansion.

Chapter 11: Forgiveness; Hungry and Cold

Riba opened the door to the left wing and stepped in. Nobody was there to pop out of the darkness, nobody tried to stab him. There was nobody there at all. Just Riba. Alone. Again. "Hello?" Riba called out. No response. "Whoever's there, I have something I need to say!" Still, nothing. Riba may as well have been talking to himself, at least that's what he thought. He heard footsteps coming from behind him. He turned around, fear going down his spine. Maybe it wasn't such a good idea to call so much attention to himself. He backed away slowly.

"Hey, I, um... Don't know who you are, but..." Riba winced. He was in trouble now. "I just wanted to say... I'm sorry for whatever I did to you...?"

"Hungry..." A woman's voice said. "So... very hungry..."

"Is there something I can get you?" Riba asked.

"Why yes..." The spirit said.

"Wh-what is it?" Riba asked. He was frightened. She was coming closer.

"I want to feast upon your flesh... pick your bones dry!" She said. She made a mad dash forward, Riba's heart sank. She picked him up by the collar and pinned him to the wall with some sort of inhuman strength. She frothed at the mouth like a wild animal with rabies. "It's been so long since I had something to eat! You will make a delicious meal, handsome!~" She giggled. Riba began to sweat. No, not like this! He can't let it end now! If he died... He would never come back!

"Wait!" Riba shouted. She seemed to stop for a moment, listening to what Riba had to say. "I-I know a place. It has the best apples imaginable. But if I'm going to tell you where it is, you're going to have to put me down."

"Apples..." The woman's spirit said, she seemed delighted at the idea. "Very well." She dropped Riba to the ground, he landed on his backside.

"Oof!" Riba grunted. "Maybe be a little more careful next time..."

"Tell me, curious cat," The spirit said as she knelt down and put her hands on her lap. "What is your name?"

"I'm Riba... Riba Aduraice..." Riba answered, afraid of the question. "Yes... that Riba Aduraice. Surely, whoever you are, you remember what I did. I've come here to accept my sins and move forward. But I can only do that once I gain forgiveness from the ones I've hurt."

The spirit was silent for a while. "I am Marie Aduraice," She said. "Half-sister of many, including Alice Aduraice. I am also your first victim. You locked me in that crate over there as I slowly starved to death." She pointed towards the big crate in the room.

Riba shook. "I'm very sorry about what I did to you..." He said, sincerely. "I want to start over. Do you think we can maybe be friends?"

"Such a noble goal..." She muttered. "And so foolish, too. Sure. I will be your friend. You're going to need one in this place, what with the mindset that everyone will be as forgiving as I am. Just know, I'm only in it for the apples... If I find out you're lying to me, I won't hesitate to eat you, my darling.~"

"That's nice to know," Riba said, sarcastically. He and his new friend, Marie, continued throughout the mansion. As they passed the kitchen, they heard something that sounded like metallic banging. Riba rushed into the kitchen. It seemed to be coming from the freezer. The banging turned to scratching accompanied with screams. The sound was unbearable, but whatever was stuck in there must be going through even more pain. Riba opened the door, and was pulled in by some unknown force. He felt Marie grab onto his leg to stop him from going. Each force was equally strong, and Riba felt like he could be torn apart. He had to do something.

"Let me go, Marie!" Riba shouted.

"No! You will bring me my next meal one way or the other! I need you!" She cried. She seemed to be more concerned about herself than Riba. Riba tried to shake her loose, but she did not relent. Eventually, with all the strain on Marie, she let go, and Riba was pulled into the freezer. When he should have hit the ground, he instead kept falling. He fell for what felt like hours, until he hit the ground with a thud. Surprisingly, the pain subsided after a while, and he had no actual injuries.

"Where am I?" Riba thought to himself. "I can't see anything..."

Suddenly, Riba was overcome by a sudden cold feeling. This was much colder than an ordinary freezer. It felt like he was swimming in the Snow Kingdom in his boxers and a doctor's headband. Riba did not know why that was the first thing he thought of in relation to his situation, but brushed it off as the cold getting to him a little.

Riba began to walk. He couldn't feel any walls, no matter how far he walked. Was he even in the mansion anymore? Suddenly, he saw it. There was a door. Elated, he ran towards it. However, as he touched the handle, it disappeared into thin air.

"W-what?" Riba asked. "The door..." It suddenly got even more freezing. Riba had to cuddle his arms together for warmth. He rubbed his hands together and breathed onto them. He wished he had brought warmer clothing. Just then, another door appeared. He ran towards it, without even thinking. It disappeared too. Doors appeared all around him. To the right, To the left, up and down... All Riba could see were doors that led out... That he couldn't open.

He continued to run, but they all seemed to get further and further away. It was becoming so cold. He'd faint if he didn't get out of here. Then he may very well freeze to death. "Please, someone... Help me..." Riba began to regret going headfirst into the freezer. Maybe he could have planned it out better. Maybe he could have gathered blankets to hoist himself down. Then again, there was no way he could have predicted that there would be no floor. He had been in this house for centuries, he should know this place.

"Do you see now what you did to me?" A young boy's voice asked. Riba turned to the source, only to find there was no such thing. It was a disembodied voice. "You need to learn that you won't be able to make up for what you did. Nobody will ever forgive you."

"You're wrong..." Riba muttered, it was getting painful to breathe, with the cold air hitting his fragile teeth. This was Rae... "Mario forgave me... And Marie did too! Even if you don't forgive me for what I did, Rae, I want you to know that I'm sorry!"

A girl, Rae, appeared in front of Riba. "Do you think that means anything to me?" Rae asked. "You've had me trapped in here for centuries. If you were truly sorry about what you did, you would have done something about it already."

"I know. And I will," Riba said. He took off his scarf and gave it to Rae. Rae did not know what to do at first. After a moment, she reached out her hand and snatched it from Riba. She wrapped it around her neck and buried her hands in it.

"Hmm... I suppose this is all your apology amounts to... This is what I get in return for years of cold, dark torture..." Rae said, seeming disappointed, although she was not expecting much anyways. "Fine. Leave this place and don't return. Do not try to 'make it up' to us. Not everyone will be as easy to please as me."

A door appeared in the distance, and Riba headed towards it. The freezing seemed to subside. He turned back to say goodbye to Rae, but saw nobody there. Saddened, he headed into the lightened doorway.

Chapter 12: Forgiveness; Trapped and Ablaze

"Darling?" Marie's voice asked. Riba slowly came to. He was in the kitchen, on the floor, and he had an extreme headache. He felt like he just hit his head really hard. "Darling, wake up. Please... If I don't get food soon, I'll have to..."

"Urgh... Marie?" Riba asked. "What just happened? Rae was there..."

"Shh, shh..." Marie said. "Riba. Seriously. You can't keep getting sidetracked like this. I need food..."

"I know, I know... I'll get you your meal," Riba assured Marie. "I just have a lot on my pl- never mind..." Riba barely dodged a bullet there. Marie stared at him with disdain.

"Where do we go next? I want to get this over with," Marie groaned. Her stomach growled. Riba felt bad for her. She hadn't eaten in so long. He hoped she would enjoy the apples when they got to the tree in Evangeline.

Riba tried to remember where Leo was. He knew that what was left of Mercy was in the fireplace, and their spirits shouldn't be too far from their bodies. He went upstairs and past the diner, it would appear that the house had repaired itself since Mario and Riba had left. All the floors were intact as if the collapse had never happened. Riba and Marie finally made it to the toy chest that Alice had stuffed Leo's corpse in. Hesitantly, he opened the chest, knowing the gruesome sight that would await him.

There was nothing there.

"Where's his body?" Riba asked, confused and cautiously.

"Damn it!" Marie shouted. "Now we need to look for the kid... And I won't get my meal! I'm counting on you, Riba... And you are too."

Riba had to admit, it was kind of annoying how all she talked about was a meal. Here there could be someone else in the mansion, such as another grave-robber looking for stuff in the mansion, who could be in danger, who Riba needed to find if he was going to ever call himself a decent person again. And she just wanted food. Deep breaths, Riba...

"We need to find the body," Riba said, slowly and patiently. "Then I promise, you'll have your meal."

"Joy!" Marie cried, sarcastically. She was growing very impatient. Riba began the hunt. As he walked out of the room, he saw what appeared to be Leo walking around like nothing happened.

"Leo!" Riba called out, preparing himself for anything. "It's me, Riba! I have to apologize for all the bad things I've done to you!" This caught Leo's attention. He turned around to face Riba. But when he did, Riba found that in place of his face, was what seemed to be a black hole... Extending forever into nothingness. Riba gasped. The thing gave chase, and Riba ran. Marie followed him at a slightly slower pace.

"It's fun!" The figure imitating Leo said. The voice sounded like Leo's, but it was distorted... wrong... Like somebody was playing it on a tape recorder through a tunnel with double reverb on. What was fun about this, anyways? Riba needed to find the real Leo, and put him at rest.

Riba ran, and ran, and ran. Until he made it to the top floor. This thing seemed to have similar powers to that of Helvetica, but Riba could tell it was new to warping itself into other people's image, if not simply bad at it. This spirit may have something to do with Helvetica. A servant, perhaps. "Where are we running, Riba dearest?" Marie asked.

"I don't know! We just need to get this thing off our tail!" Riba exclaimed, sweat running down his brow. Suddenly, Rae appeared between Riba and the thing that seemed to be imitating Leo.

"Leo, stop it!" Rae yelled. "Riba's changed. He's no longer the same man who ordered your death!"

"Rae..." The voice said. "You're wrong. No matter how much he's changed, he's still Riba. He still had auntie kill us."

The spirit seemed to be responding to Rae. Could this actually be Leo?

"I know, what he did was wrong..." Rae responded. "But it's been centuries. He's changed his ways. He wants to make it up to us, Leo... And sometimes, you just have to move on."

"Move on...?" Leo muttered. He smacked Rae. "Moving on is for the weak and simple-minded. Riba is evil, Rae. And he won't make up for that. I won't let him." Rae rubbed her cheek where Leo smacked her.

"Leo... Why?" Rae asked. She sobbed. "It's been so long since I've last seen you... And if it's Riba who's bringing us together one last time, even if it's like this, could he really be all that bad?" Leo paused, his hand was in the air as if to hit Rae again. He growled.

"Shut up!" Leo shouted. "I'm not falling for his tricks just to be betrayed by him again! You're naive, Rae! I'm the older brother, and therefore I know better!" Leo turned his back on Rae in frustration. "Follow him if you want. It will only put you in more danger. He'll find ways to hurt you, even as a spirit. And I won't care." Leo walked down the stairs. "Good riddance."

Riba looked at Rae. She didn't even bat an eye as she lay on the floor after Leo slapped her. "Hey, you alright, kid?" Riba asked. He put a hand on Rae's shoulder. Rae used her free hand to shove it off.

"Don't touch me," Rae muttered. "Go away."

"I just wanted to say thank you..." Riba said, smiling. "I wouldn't have gotten out of that if it weren't for you."

"It's fine. It's fine. It's fine," Rae repeated, seeming distant. "Now go."

"Okay. You take care now, you hear?" Riba asked. He gave Rae a comforting smile as he walked away.

"Ta-ta, dearie!" Marie called as she waved goodbye frantically. Rae waved back, a hint of a smile on her cold face.

"You two have a very strong bond, huh?" Riba asked.

"I mean, while she is my niece, she's always been more of a daughter to me..." Marie said, smiling sweetly. "I never really had a child. I hadn't even been in a relationship ever since people found out my mom was Evie Aduraice."

"Evie Aduraice?" Riba asked. He had heard Alice mention the name a lot back in the day, usually during one of her drug highs. She always became very emotional towards herself, while acting the opposite towards others besides Riba. Riba had always tuned her out. But if he could go back in time and listen, he would. "Why would people judge you based on who your mother is? It matters more who you are than who you come from."

"I know, right?" Marie asked. She seemed to be very passionate about this subject. She's like a spark of light when she talks about something she cares this much about. Something that affects her so much. "I know my mom was an evil, selfish woman. But why should I be judged because I'm her daughter?"

"An old friend of mine felt similarly about his father," Riba said. He was referring to Mario. "He didn't know much about his father, as he died before he was even born. But one day, he went to the Real World and met his mother. She told him about the things his father did. While she found him brave and heroic, he found him disgusting and wrong. He would always tell me how he hated his father for what he did, and how he thought he was no better for what he did to his brother and his friends. I believe he said something about doing similar things to Bowser, the king of the Koopas."

"What did you tell him?" Marie asked. Her gaze softened. For the first time since Riba met her in spirit form, she seemed empathetic. Human.

Riba took a deep breath. "I told him that we can't change or affect the past. That no matter how bad it seems, there's no reason looking back and regretting it. Instead, move forward and prosper. Learn from it, it's what makes us better people in the long run," He said. Marie's eyes sparkled.

"I've needed someone to say that for a long time..." She said. Tears welled up in her eyes. "This whole time, I've been so ashamed for everything I've done... I can't believe I even ate my own nephew's corpse just to feed myself!" Riba closed his eyes and breathed out. Now he knew what happened to Leo's body. "But from now on... I won't ever eat anyone again! No matter how hungry I am... No matter how much it hurts inside... I can't make any more people suffer!" Tears streamed down her red, soft cheeks as she said this.

Riba turned to her and smiled. "I'm glad you've made your choice," He tried comforting her.

"I want my family to be happy again... and I suppose that starts with my sister, Mercy, right?" She asked.

"Of course it does," Riba said. "I just hope she'll listen to me... to us..." he and Marie clenched their hands together. Riba now felt true friendship for the first time since Mario died. He felt safe with her. They made their way to the fireplace.

For the first time, Riba noticed how quiet this place was when he wasn't being chased by vengeful spirits. The floorboards creaked something awful when he stepped on them. Making him wince from the ugly sound. Why was he afraid? He'd been in this place for years, and not once did he feel fear like this. That's when he realized. When you don't care about others, you lose your emotions and sense of self. You become hollow. But if you care too much about others, and they're taken from you...

Riba shook the thought from his mind. Right now, all that mattered was moving forward. They arrived at the fireplace. The smell of burnt flesh and ash was unbearable. Riba gagged. "Deep breaths, hon," Marie whispered, oblivious to the smell herself. "Do you want me to go in there for you?"

"No. It's f-" Riba said. A vision flashed in his mind of him going into the fireplace alone, looking for the spirit of Mercy. In the vision, the metal covering shut behind him. He heard Marie's laughter coming from outside as he banged on the covering, begging for her to let him out. He then realized. A fire had sparked, and was now burning him alive. She was cooking him.

"Wahahahahaha!" She laughed, like a maniac. "Fool! Fool! You thought I would really help you? What a joke! You've wasted my time, and now, I feast!" By the time she opened her covering, Riba was browned and fully cooked. "Do not worry, dearie, I will pick your bones clean, then sharpen them for my next victim... No parts will be wasted, I assure you." She dug into his flesh, as she began her latest feast. The vision ended.

"Dearie? Dearie? Anyone home?" Marie waved her hand in front of Riba's eyes. He then came to his senses and gasped.

"Ah-" Riba said. "On second thought, maybe we should go in together..."

"Why, alright..." Marie said. She eyed Riba as she approached the fireplace. "You first, handsome..."

"Um, no, no! Ladies first, as they always say!" Riba began sweating. Marie scoffed.

"Fine, but you mustn't take advantage of your view..." Marie seemed disappointed. Her plan had failed, and now they were in an awkward situation.

"Ah- I wasn't planning to... You know..." Riba blurted. "I'm just a little scared is all... I'll stay out here."

"Hmph," Marie crawled into the fireplace. Riba did not follow, as his face turned a bright red from the interaction they had. He did not have feelings for Marie, but he couldn't deny she was very attractive. A lesser man would have taken that opportunity, but he was not a lesser man. What was that vision, anyway? "Mercy?" Marie called. "Mercy, darling, are you in here?"

Riba could not hear a response. Then, suddenly, the metal covering shut closed on its own accord. Riba gasped again. "Riba?!" Marie called out. "Riba, did you shut the cover?"

"No, I didn't!" Riba called, hands cupped around his mouth to enhance the volume of his voice. "It shut by itself!" Riba tried to open the cover, but it wouldn't budge. He heard the sound of a fire being lit.

"RIBA! RIBA, SWEETIE! PLEASE OPEN THE COVER!" Marie shouted. She banged on the cover from the other side as Riba tried harder to open it, despite it burning his hands. If he didn't do something, Marie could die! Even ghosts can die in special circumstances, such as being eaten... Or burned... sometimes... even with the help of the giant hands from Len's contacts, it wouldn't open!

"You... you dare come back here?" Mercy's voice growled, as the fire engulfed Marie. "Marie... All you've ever done is remind me of how my mother and father didn't love each other enough to be together forever. You remind me of my disgusting heritage. Die!"

Marie screamed as the fire ate away at her transparent skin. "You're not my family..." Mercy grumbled. "Therefore, I have no reason to spare you."

"Sister, no! You don't have to do this!" Marie cried.

"Silence! Do not call me your sister," Mercy shouted. "You are not my sister. You are nothing to me. Burn."

"Mercy, you need to stop!" Riba shouted through the metal covering. "She's your sister!"

"Riba..." Mercy said, from within the fireplace. "You've always been such an idiot. What are you here for? To laugh some more at the pain and misery of me and my family? This woman... she is not part of my family. I feel no shame in having her soul dissipate into nothingness as she screams for her afterlife. So tell me... Why should you be any different?"

Riba felt an invisible force, likely that of Mercy, pulling him into the fireplace as the cover opened just enough to let him in. Mercy set up a barrier that prevented Marie from getting out. Riba struggled to fight the force, but it was not doing him any good. Then, out of thin air, appeared Rae.

"Mother!" Rae called. The force dropped Riba. The flames calmed, but did not go away.

"... Who goes there?" Mercy asked.

"Mom... It's me... Your daughter, Rae..." Rae cried.

"... Rae?" Mercy asked once more, not sure if it was Rae or not. "My daughter?"

"Mom, do you remember me?" Rae asked. "Please, leave auntie Marie alone!"

"'Auntie Marie'...?" Mercy questioned. Rae considered Marie her aunt? "Rae, you know I can't..."

"No! Mom, it's not that you can't! It's that you don't want to!" Rae shouted. "I know grandmother Evie hurt you, that she hurt all of us... But Riba agrees with me that you shouldn't judge people based on their parents' choices! Everybody is their own person, no matter where they come from!"

"Ah..." Mercy gasped. She knew what she was doing was wrong. But she didn't want to be reminded that her mother didn't love her enough to be loyal to Isaac. It ruined her life, traumatized her. She became sour to the world. But Marie wasn't to blame. Only Evie was, and she was gone already. The flames died. "You're right... When did you get so mature?"

The cover opened. Out walked Mercy, carrying Marie in her arms. She laid her down on the ground, she was badly burnt. If she didn't get immediate medical attention, she wouldn't make it. "I'm sorry..." Mercy whispered. She looked down at the ground.

"What are we going to do?" Rae asked. "The nearest hospital is right by Vanity and Vanilla's Castle, and-"

"I'll take her there," Riba stated, trying to hold back telling them Vanity and Vanilla's Castle was now Peach's Castle... although Vanity and Vanilla... where did he hear those names before? "I'll do it." Riba turned to Mercy. "Mercy, we saw Leo wandering the home. We tried talking to him, but he wouldn't listen. If anyone can get through to him, it's you. Find him. I'm sorry for what I did to you and your family, and I plan to make it right."

"Thank you so much, Riba..." Mercy cried into Riba's arm as she hugged him. "Thank you for bringing my family together again."

"It's my responsibility as your murderer," Riba replied, as he patted her back, trying to make her feel better. "And you're welcome. Goodbye for now..."

Riba picked up Marie with both his arms. He stared into her unconscious face. It seemed Mercy had complete control over flames, as there were not any left on her. Then, he realized. There were no burns on her, either. In fact, she did not seem hurt at all. Just a second ago, she... he dropped Marie. She fell to the floor with a thud. Everyone gasped.

"Riba, what did you do that for?!" Rae shouted.

"Something's wrong. Her burns..." Riba said, his pupils shrunk. A smile made its way onto Marie's face as she opened her eyes. Dead and blue. Riba backed away with a yell. He clung onto the wall. _Helvetica._ Rae and Mercy seemed to recognize the eyes too. They backed away slowly. "Helvetica!"

"AHAHAHA!" Helvetica laughed as she morphed into her true form. She laughed like a child at a bad joke. "I'm sorry, I couldn't help myself. Your willingness to help her is hilarious!"

"What have you done with Marie?" Riba questioned.

"Fool! FOOL!" Helvetica howled with laughter. "I was Marie! Oh, the realization!" Riba choked on his own breath. "What happened to you, Riba? The manipulator has become the manipulated, oh how rich!"

"You're lying..." Riba muttered. "You always do."

"Maybe, maybe not..." Helvetica said. "The only way you'll know is by meeting me in the attic. I'll give you until the strike of midnight."

"What time is it?" Riba asked, taking a step forward. No clocks in this place worked.

"Ten in the afternoon. You'd better hurry!" Helvetica cackled. "I'll be expecting you." She disappeared.

Rae lifted her hand in the air like a student who knew the answer to a question. Riba brought his hand to his face. "Yes?"

"Who was that?"

Chapter 13: Forgiveness; Divided Hearts

"Where are we going now?" Rae asked, as Riba took off.

"We need to find Rosa and Alfred," Riba stated. "They may be able to help us reason with Helvetica."

"What makes you say that?" Rae asked. "Who's Helvetica, anyway?"

"I'm not quite sure, myself," Riba gave the best answer he could think of. "I have been given the blessing, and curse, of rebirth. Every time I die, I remember less and less about my previous lives. I've been gathering memory fragments, but I still don't quite have everything pieced together. I thought maybe you would remember, all I know is that she's part of the family. She died here while looking for you, Rae, she said you were her sister."

"I don't remember having a sister..." Rae said, softly. She scratched the back of his head. "Mom, do you know anybody by the name of Helvetica?"

Mercy shook her head. She had seemed very distant and ashamed of herself ever since burning the fake Marie. She couldn't believe she was prepared to burn her own sister, even if she wasn't from the same father as her, she was still her sister. Riba thought it best to leave her alone.

"Well, whoever she is, she was part of your- our family," Riba corrected himself. "Earlier, she told me Alfred and Rosa were the only ones who ever paid attention to her. Maybe they can convince her to stop this if we can't. Who knows, we may even run into Leo on the way there."

They headed for the servant's quarters. On the way there, Riba stopped. He walked over to the wall and held on to it for support standing. Rae and Mercy looked in his direction with worry. "Riba?" Rae asked.

"Hch!" Riba choked. He could swear he heard Mario's voice again. But this time... He could tell it wasn't Helvetica. This felt like it was the real Mario talking to him. Helvetica lacked the emotion in Mario's voice that made it his own. This Mario was more legitimate. More real. Mario was telling him to give up. That no one loved him. That he didn't love him. Mario said he never even considered him a friend, that he was afraid of him, and only stayed with him out of pity and fear, and so that he could laugh as he watched Riba cry over his dead body. "Augh..." Riba said in pain. His head was throbbing. No. It was all an illusion. Mario was gone. It was this place playing tricks on him. He knew someday, he would find a way to bring Mario back, to be with him again, but that day was not today, sadly. He needed to keep moving forward for everyone's sake. For Marie's sake.

They arrived at the servant's quarters, on the third floor. It was a long journey. The house's orientation had changed on the way, and they had gotten completely lost for a while. Luckily, they managed to get back on track and continue the journey. Riba opened the door. He anticipated it to be locked, but surprisingly, it opened just fine. Odd. Riba peeked through the doorway, and saw nobody in the room. He had expected Alfred and Rosa to be in here. Where could they have ran off to? He then heard Rae scream. Riba looked in the direction Rae was looking, and he then noticed something that he had not seen during his first scan of the room. It was Rosa, and she was hanging. Her darkened color blended in with the darkness of the dimly lit room. He nearly screamed, himself.

"R-Rosa?" Mercy asked, her hands covered her mouth. No response. This was a spirit rather than a body, as it showed no signs of decay. Then again, it showed no sign of movement either. Maybe it was somewhere in between. However, as he said that, he heard a squeal of fear come from the figure that looked like Rosa. Riba ran into the room, Rae and Mercy following soon after.

For a second, Riba thought he saw Rosa look at him, but the next, she went back to staring at the ground. She was playing dead. He remembered when Mario tried to hang himself in Evangeline all those years ago. Riba had gotten under and lifted him. He did the same here, then ordered Rae and Mercy to untie the rope. Riba could tell she was faking. For what reason, he didn't know. After all was said and done, he put her on the bed and waited for a response. "Rosa? Rosa, it's me, Riba..." Riba said. "Please, answer us. Rae and Mercy are here." Nothing. "Do you by any chance know somebody named Helvetica?"

Rosa's eyes focused, and her darkened palette faded into her true colors. "Helvetica, you ask?" She said. Finally. She spoke. She got up from the bed and clenched Riba's arms with her hands. "What is it? What is wrong with Helvetica?"

"Helvetica's gone berserk..." Riba explained. He winced. He wish he chose a better choice of words. "She has Marie, and is playing mind games with all of us and trying to get us killed."

"My Helvetica...!" Rosa exclaimed. She seemed troubled by this revelation. She then realized who she was talking to. She pulled her hands away from Riba. "Riba! You!" She exclaimed, disgust in her voice. "What are you doing in my presence...?! You're the reason all of this happened... Lady Alice told us herself, before you killed her in cold blood!"

"Whoa, whoa, hey!" Riba tried to calm her down. He put up his hands in defense as she swung at him, and missed, due to Rae and Mercy holding her back. "I'm sorry, okay? I came here to try to make it up to you all in any way I can. I truly am very sorry for what I did. I was such a stupid, selfish person. But right now, we need you and Alfred's help to stop Helvetica from tearing this family apart!"

Rosa spat in Riba's face. He stood there and took it, wiping it off seconds later. "You are not part of this family," Rosa grumbled. "You sicken me on so many levels. Now leave this house, and never show your face here again!"

"Rosa, please listen!" Mercy cried. "He's changed..."

"Zip it!" Rosa hissed. "I can't believe the nerve of you people. You come here asking for my help, the person who ruined the family I served in tow, and you ask me to work with Alfred?! Do you have any idea what that evil man has done to me?"

"W-what DID Alfred do to you?" Riba asked. Rosa became quiet, as she looked down to the floor. Riba could tell she was too ashamed to tell the truth. He decided not to push her any further. "Look. I'm sure whatever he did to you was very bad, and I'd hate to put you in this situation with him where you feel unsafe. Would you feel better if he didn't come with us?"

Rosa paused. She breathed in and out through gritted teeth. "If it's for Helvetica..." Rosa said. "Then very well. I will help you. But after this, I expect you gone. If you do not leave, I'll make you." Riba nodded. He was sad that Rosa wouldn't accept his apology, but he expected nothing more. He was very lucky to have been able to befriend the people he'd hurt in the past up to this point. But it was ultimately her choice.

"Then, let's go..." Riba sighed. "She said to meet us in the attic, so that should be our first stop." Suddenly, everyone jumped at the sound of fists against wood coming from the servant's bathroom.

"Rosa!" Alfred's voice shouted from the bathroom. "Rosa, you had better not be leaving!"

"Alfred!" Rosa cried, fear-stricken. "No, no, no, no, no! Please don't!"

"Rosa... My love, my angel," Alfred whispered, in a perverted manner. "Come back here and stay with me... Oh, Rosa, we can have so much fun. Just let me out..."

"Leave her alone!" Riba shouted, taking a stand. He was beginning to piece together what really happened. And it disgusted him to his very core. For a moment, he forgot he was trying to make everything up to these spirits. He didn't care anymore in Alfred's case. "She doesn't want anything to do with you!"

"Stay out of this, fish boy..." Alfred grunted. He was trying to break the door down. Hearing him call Riba fish boy triggered painful memories of Len. The mere fact he said it perverted that which was once innocent. Despicable. "She's my woman."

"I am not!" Rosa shouted, voice strained. "Please, leave me alone!" Tears rolled down her face, from pure fear of the situation.

"Don't deny it, Rosa... We were made to be together forever!" Alfred cackled. He had completely lost it. "Just let me out..."

"Run, run!" Riba shouted. Everybody ran out of the room, except for him. He summoned the giant hands to push the bookshelf in front of the bathroom door to block anyone from coming out. He could not be allowed to escape. He made sure the barricade was secure, before running away himself. The hands dissipated.

"Rat!" Alfred shouted, an edge in his voice. "Let me through, so I can be with her again!"

"Not a chance!" Riba yelled, shutting the door behind him. He then realized. He had lost the others. Where had they gone? "Hello?!" Riba called out. No response. He needed to look for them before they got hurt. First stop, the attic.

Riba pulled the string that lowered the attic stairs, they folded out in front of him. He took a deep breath. "Please be okay," He whispered to himself, but moreover to his new friends. He couldn't let Helvetica harm them in any way.

As he peeped his head up through the doorway, he saw Helvetica. Standing there. He jumped up and landed in the attic. "Helvetica! Where are my friends?" Riba asked, prepared for her to attack.

"Your friends..." Helvetica muttered. The shadows blending in with the darkness of the room turned around, revealing Rae, Mercy, Rosa, Leo, and Marie. Their faces were blacked out. "Your friends are mine now." Helvetica giggled. "It's been such fun toying with you..." She said as she walked around Riba, tauntingly. She lunged forward at him as if to attack him, and Riba put up his guard, however, she had not hit him. She laughed again as she backed away.

"Now, Riba... I have grown bored of our game... You have grown to expect the unexpected," Helvetica said, frowning in genuine displeasure. "I have no reason to keep you and your friends around anymore."

"You've tried killing me before, and it didn't work..." Riba muttered, as she pushed him to the ground. "What makes you think this time will be any different?" Helvetica brandished her knife and held it in the air in front of him.

"Still, such a foolish man..." Helvetica muttered. "I won't kill you, rest assured." The faceless Marie walked up to her as Helvetica smiled wide. She handed the knife to Marie. "_They _will." Riba gasped and dodged as the floor next to him was punctured by the knife, in Marie's attempt to stab him.

"Have fun... I know I will," Helvetica giggled. She took a seat on one of the storage boxes as she watched Riba getting swarmed by the effigies of his friends.

"No!" Riba cried. "This isn't how it was meant to end! Marie, snap out of it!" No response, she pulled the knife out of the wood. Riba got up, as the knife plunged into his arm. He shouldn't have gotten up. "Ack!" He shouted. He held the wound as he felt blood pool out of it. It stained his hand red, and it became sticky with his own life force. He was becoming weak. The figures, through his blurred vision, morphed into each other. He had no way of telling which one was which.

"How sad..." Helvetica murmured. "Already leaving? It's a shame. I wish we could have played longer. Goodbye, friend."

"Helvetica..." Riba gasped. "You- you don't have to do this! Please!"

"Oh, but I do..." Helvetica corrected. She smiled. "Once I do this to the rest of the world, everybody will know the name of Helvetica Aduraice! I won't be forgotten anymore!"

Something clicked in Riba's mind. He knew how to get through to her. With the last of his strength, he spoke. "Helvetica, you don't deserve to be overlooked..." Riba grunted. "You deserve so much more." Helvetica raised an eyebrow, thoroughly confused. "At least I can say that I never overlooked you."

"W-what are you saying?" Helvetica asked. She gritted her teeth.

"Look, I know how it feels to be forgotten. I know how it feels to be a shadow of someone else," Riba choked, thinking of his sister, the guardian of Honey Syrup Jungle. "You can trust me when I say I've been there. I've been so many places, you wouldn't believe. But my adventure isn't over yet. I still have somebody very important that I need to get back to." Riba paused for a second, taking a sharp inhale from the pain. "And look at this. So many people are gathered here, together, for you. It's your family. I'm sure once you let them go, they will overlook you no more." Another inhale. "I know everyone likes to blame me for ruining this family... But the hard truth is, this family was broken far before I even came here. Evie split up the family, made them fight over so much. So much, that you felt neglected and forgotten. It's time for you and I to patch things up, and make them right."

Helvetica sniffed. Riba could tell from her expression that the words had made it through to her. "Do you really think we'll be able to fix things?" Helvetica asked. 

Riba smiled. "I'm sure we will..." Riba reached out his hand that wasn't soaked in blood. "Together. As a family." Helvetica's hand joined his, and Riba fell unconscious.

Chapter 14: Forgiveness; Family

Riba found himself in his farmhouse, the one where he lived with Mario, when he was still with him. The sound of the ocean beating against the shore. He got up from his twin-sized bed and headed downstairs. "Hello!" A familiar voice called out.

"Mario?" Riba asked. He rubbed his eyes and yawned. He blinked at the morning sunlight shining through the blinds. "Ah, good morning..." He caught himself staring at Mario.

"Riba... I have something important to ask you..." Mario murmured, avoiding eye contact. He seemed very nervous.

"What is it, Mario?" Riba asked, smiling warmly.

"Maybe, tonight, would you like to go somewhere?" Mario asked. He blurted the last few words out. "You know, like... a date?"

"...I thought you'd never ask..." Riba responded, his eyes widened, shimmering as the sun reflected off of them. "Yes... A million times yes!" Riba ran up and hugged Mario tightly.

"Oof!" Mario cried. Riba had surprised him. "Do- do you really mean it?" Mario asked. He was bewildered by Riba's acceptance.

"Yes, my love..." Riba whispered. He leaned in for a kiss on the cheek, then caught himself once more. "Ah- Sorry, I'm getting a little ahead of myself. Anyways, where are we going, tonight?"

"Hmm..." Mario thought about this. "How about Abor's Cavern? I hear it becomes very pretty at night. It would be the perfect place."

"Not exactly what I was expecting, but that sounds perfect!" Riba beamed. "Um... Mario?"

"Yes?" Mario asked. Something seemed very different about him today. He seemed more confident than usual. Perhaps it was just the heat of the moment, but Riba could swear that something was off.

"Does this make us a couple?" Riba asked. He twiddled his thumbs as he did, nervously. Mario planted a big kiss on his mouth, which lasted several seconds. Riba was surprised at first, but joined in. He took that as a yes.

"I'm going to the beach," Mario told Riba, cupping his face in his hands. "Remember. Abor's Cavern. Tonight."

"I'll remember this for the rest of my life, Mario..." Riba said. "Thank you." Mario walked out the door. The sunlight pooled in from outside. It was almost blinding. Riba's entire vision was filled with pitch white.

Riba woke up hours later in the servant's quarters. His arm ached like all get out. As he looked at it, he found it was bandaged up. A red blotch bled through the white bandaging.

"Riba? Riba darling?" Marie's voice asked. Riba groaned as he slowly came to. "Sweetie?"

"Mmm..." Riba murmured as the form of Marie entered his vision. "Marie?" More figures became visible. Rae, Mercy, Leo, Rosa, Alfred, and Helvetica. They were all standing over Riba, anxiously anticipating for him to get up. "What happened? Where's Mario?"

"Mario?" Marie asked. "Ah, you were just having a dream. I don't know anyone by the name of Mario."

Riba sighed. It was just a dream after all. Mario was still dead, and Riba didn't know what to make of his dream. Likely his subconscious playing tricks on him, feeding on his deepest desires. But Abor's Cavern... Riba had heard of that place before... And Len did call him Abor as she was taking her final breaths. Could this mean something?

"What's Alfred doing here?" Riba asked, realizing his presence. "He was just trying to-"

"I know, and I apologize deeply..." Alfred sighed. He looked very guilty. "It was wrong how I treated Rosa, and all of you. My precious Helvetica helped me realize that." Helvetica nodded. He put a hand on her head.

"We're just glad you're okay," Rosa stated. "We were so worried about you."

"Marie, why did you stab me?" Riba asked, looking back at his arm.

"Helvetica had us in a trance..." Marie sighed, not wanting to think about it. "But we've all made up. Nobody is angry at each other anymore. Apparently, she was also training Leo to copy the forms of others as well, which is why he had no face. He had lost some of his true form in the process."

"There are still people I'm responsible for taking care of..." Riba muttered. He tried to get up, but fell onto the ground. The pain in his arm prevented him from moving.

"Honey, don't move!" Marie cried, as she helped him up onto his bed. "You're injured. You need to rest."

"But-" Riba started. Marie tried shushing him softly. "My daughters... what about my daughters?" The room fell quiet as soon as Riba mentioned his daughters, Anna and Serina. They were still buried at the mine. Nobody knew what to tell him. He wouldn't like to hear that he had to keep his daughters squirming around in the dirt until he was physically fit to go out there.

Marie gave him a sad expression. "Can I trust you to keep yourself safe? The forest is dangerous... I don't want you getting lost..." She hugged Riba tightly. She felt a very strong connection to him. They considered each other some of their best friends.

"I promise, I can take care of myself," Riba assured her. "I have my magic contacts from my friend, Len, in case things go south. I'll be fine... But first, I have a question..."

"What is it, hon?" Marie asked, solemnly.

"Who is Abor?" Riba asked, everybody gasped collectively as a foreboding silence swept across the room. The air became very heavy. "I'm sorry, it's just... I keep hearing about Abor. Len called me Abor, and Mario asked me to go to Abor's Cavern in my dream, and I swear I've heard it somewhere before."

"Abor..." Marie repeated, her voice shaking. "Rosa, dear, would you please get him the book?"

"Right away, m'lady," Rosa ran to the bookshelf, which was still on its face from being knocked over when Alfred escaped. "Alfred... A little help, please?" Alfred rushed to her aid in turning over the bookshelf. Rosa grabbed a large book from the top shelf and gave it to Riba.

"Page 128..." She said. Riba turned to page 128, as she said. They had been acting very strangely ever since he brought up Abor. Then, he saw it. An artist's depiction of Abor. He had paper-white skin, glasses, black marks in some areas such as arms and cheeks, a tail, wings, and dirty blonde hair. He looked like a twisted effigy of Riba himself. Riba dropped the book. His hands shook. As soon as he got himself back under control, which took a few moments from the pure shock, he picked the book back up. Luckily, he had not lost his place. He read what the book had to say.

"Abor is a being from the deepest depths of the Underworld. He is the devil's greatest servant, and the worst enemy of all living things. The origins of Abor are unknown, though it is suspected due to an attack on a Myceliumalia farmhouse in 1585, that he came into existence around the same time that the Mushroom Kingdom was in early stages of development. Abor is capable of changing his form into that of a New-Donker male. However, when his false skin is shed, he assumes his true form as a horrible beast capable of leveling entire cities with the strike of his hand. Many have tried to hunt down and kill Abor, but only one hunt has been successful. Fodetta Toadstool, the witch of mycelium, granddaughter of Abor himself, struck him down with the power of one thousand Power Stars, while he was weak and unsuspecting. However, there is a theory. It states that Abor carries the power of rebirth. No matter how many times he is killed, he will always come back in a slightly different form. The best way to identify Abor is by the blood-red gem on his chest. Be warned. This evil cannot be stopped. It will walk this side of the galaxy forever, until it is put to rest by the embrace of true love. All attempts to pacify him in this manner, or any, have ended in death. Do not attempt to put him to rest. He loves no one, therefore it is impossible."

Riba closed the book and threw it to the wall. Everyone looked at him worriedly. "Riba, dearest... Are you feeling okay?" Marie asked.

"Yes? No? I don't know!" Riba cried. He undid his shirt's buttoning and held onto the red gem on his chest. It shone as it felt his touch. "Abor and I... We are one and the same..." Everybody backed away at the sight of the gem. They seemed fearful.

"Just know... That despite this..." Marie walked up to Riba and hugged him tightly once more. "We're still your friends. Nothing can change that." Everybody joined in, trying to comfort Riba.

"Let's save my daughters," Riba muttered, determined. After that, he planned on making his apology known to Alice, and all of Evangeline. He would make things right.

As the team left the room, they saw what appeared to be tiny flames, floating around the house. Embers. They were the color blue, meaning they were not hostile. How did Riba know that they were blue? They usually appeared gray to him. Maybe it had something to do with the contacts Len gave him... They seemed to gather around everybody, and soon took to following them, as they headed to the forest. These were the spirits of those who had come to the house in search of answers, who perished soon after.

"Let's go!" One Ember exclaimed. "Outta here!" Another cried. It was a flurry of excited voices. They were set on following Riba. Perhaps they overheard the conversation they had in the room, and wanted to join in. Even if they were only in it for more of the thrill of an adventure they had no place in, Riba needed all the help he could get. There was no telling what could happen in this place.

Riba had no lantern. So the Embers helped in lighting the way through the Forest of Suicide. They had hopped the fence, as Mercy had misplaced the key about a year ago. Helvetica had memorized the way by heart. Left, left, up, right, up, right, up. They followed her instructions. Riba made sure at every turn that nobody had gotten lost. If you get lost in this forest, you will end up killing yourself from the pure madness the repeating forest causes to you. You will see dead bodies of your loved ones hanging from every tree, until you submit and join them. Once you get lost, there is no way out. This is why it was crucial that everybody stayed together. Riba took head counts, making sure to include the Embers. These were all people that had lives, families, and reasons to come home.

Finally, they had made it to the mine. Riba remembered this place. This was where he killed Isaac Aduraice, feasted on his flesh and soul as Abor. His spirit had no chance of coming back. It was also the same place where he buried his two daughters, one of which had been killed by Alice when she was off her medicine, therefore she did it for her own reasons. Likely for revenge against Riba.

That's all she ever really did to him. Got revenge for him living his life. She had killed Elizabeth, Anna, Serina, and Mario all because they took him away from her. Yet, Riba felt that it wasn't entirely her fault. He had been such a horrible person to her. He may deserve this fate, but it wouldn't stop him from trying to change it. He would be like Len, but this time... It would be the fish who could change fate.

Riba slowly approached the deplorable grave of his second-born daughter, Serina Aduraice. When Alice had killed her, Riba had dug her a small grave by the mine, so that Alice could never find her and use her soul for the ritual. Hesitantly, he dug into the dirt with his bare hands. He gritted his teeth and sobbed as he finally saw the tip of his daughter's head peeking through the dirt and grime.

"Father?" An innocent young girl's voice asked. Riba looked up, tears blurring his vision as he lay a hand on his daughter's head. In front of him seemed to be the spirit of Serina, herself. "You came back..."

Riba got up and embraced his precious daughter tightly. He stroked her hair and wiped the tears from her eyes. He told her everything was going to be okay. That papa was here now. That there was nothing to be afraid of anymore.

"It's been so lonely... So scary, out here in the dirt..." Serina cried. "Why did you leave me here, papa?"

"I had no choice..." Riba whispered. "But it doesn't have to matter anymore. It's all in the past."

"Mommy... Where's mommy?" Serina asked, looking around frantically. "Where is my mother?" Riba did not want to tell her what happened to her mother. That he had killed her in cold blood. Her spirit was still out there somewhere. He wasn't going to stop until she was put at rest too. Then, it was up to Serina and Anna whose side they would take.

"Mommy isn't here right now..." Riba answered. "Papa did something very bad, something he regrets deeply, that hurt mommy a lot. But don't you worry. We'll find her, and then we can all be together again. But first, why don't we find your sister, Anna?"

"But Anna- She-" Serina started. Riba handed her her bow.

"Here. Don't you worry. Soon, everything will be okay," Riba comforted Serina. She put on the bow with a sad smile. Riba broke his gaze ever so slightly to look at the entrance of the cave. Anna was in there. He didn't expect for her to go without a fight. He would not give up on his daughter. Riba walked into the cave as Serina approached the other family members. He took a step forward.

"You're all here..." Serina mumbled. She then looked into the cave, and then back at everyone with a smile. "Let's go! Papa will show us the way through! It's time to go home!"

The cave was very dank and cold, even more so than outside. Riba had to wrap his arms together. His teeth chattered on their own as he stepped in. It was freezing. Everyone followed soon after. Rae breathed into her new scarf to remain warm, while everyone else huddled close to an Ember. After centuries in a freezer, Rae had grown officially sick of the cold.

Riba knew exactly where to go. Alice had told him where Anna was buried, as she planned to light fire to the grave with him. He had refused, much to Alice's displeasure. She was killed before she ever had the opportunity to fulfill her wish. Before he knew it, he had arrived at Anna's grave. She was standing there, as if she'd been expecting him.

"Anna!" Serina called out, running towards her, enthusiastically. She slowed down and came to a halt in front of Anna as she realized the blank stare on her face. "Anna...?"

"What are _you _doing here?" Anna asked. She looked at everybody else who swarmed into the room. "What are you ALL doing here?!"

"Anna, it's us. Your family," Riba answered. "It's me, your father. Have you forgotten?" Riba smiled at her. She did not return the gesture.

"I don't want you here," Anna muttered. "Please, leave me alone."

"We can't do that..." Riba said. He crossed his arms. "I believe you have something to say to Serina." He looked at her expectantly.

Serina stared into her sister's eyes. She had hoped she would accept her back, but so far it didn't seem to be the case. Riba decided to step in. He took a knee as he came to eye level with Anna.

"Anna, I owe you an explanation..." Riba said. He had told her everything. From Alice's illness to how he killed her, to the current situation. She took it all in.

"I didn't know mommy was sick..." Anna whined. "I did so many terrible things to you all..." She turned to the Embers, and then back to her sister. "Serina, will you please forgive me for this?"

"Of course I will..." Serina beamed. "We are sisters, after all. We're with each other to the end and beyond!" Anna smiled, and she shared a tender, warm hug with Serina. The Embers jumped up and down in collective joy, as the two sisters reunited for good.

Elsewhere, Alice stood at the bookshelf. She had been there for a while. She had heard Riba and some other people outside the room, but luckily, nobody ever came in. This was the bookshelf where she had possessed Mario. That was the last time she had ever felt truly alive. It was all she really wanted. She just wanted to live once more. But now, Mario was gone. Len's curse had been lifted, as she was now deceased. She decided she would just have to wait for another weak-minded individual to stumble upon the house. Maybe then-

Alice heard footsteps coming from behind her. Instinctively, she turned around, scared out of her wits. Was it another vengeful spirit seeking retribution for themselves? She put up her guard, and did not let it down when she saw Riba there. It seemed as if she only tensed up more. "Riba!" She backed away, knocking into the shelf. Some books fell off. "G-get away!"

"Alice..." Riba smiled. The warm fire in the fireplace reflected on his glasses. "We need to talk."

"I know what you're here for, and I won't let you do it!" Alice screamed. She covered her ears and closed her eyes. "Please, go! I won't let you kill me again!"

"I'm not here to kill you," Riba said. "I'm here to apologize." Alice uncovered her ears and opened her eyes. They looked at Riba with insecurity. "Alice..." Everybody peeked out from behind Riba. "I'm deeply sorry for everything I did to you. I was such a horrible person. If there's any way I could make it up to you, I would love to. Can you please, please, from the bottom of my heart, accept me as your friend once more?"

Alice looked at him, her hair obscuring her eyes. Riba noticed what seemed to be... Tears, flowing down from the shadowed space on her face. She bared her teeth. "Since when do you feel sympathy?" She asked. Anna and Serina approached and stood by Riba's side. She did not acknowledge them. "Is this supposed to make me feel guilty? This pathetic display of the deceased? I won't forget who their true murderer was. You are the cause of all this."

"Maybe that's true..." Riba said, looking at the ground. "But I'm willing to let everything be in the past if we can be friends again."

"I never wanted to be friends!" Alice barked. "I wanted you for myself. I wanted to be your lover, forever, and instead you killed me! You killed my father! My family! I hate you!" She breathed in and out over and over again. She clenched her fists. "And yet- I still love you..." She murmured. She let the tears fall. Her fists unclenched.

"I want to start over..." Riba smiled. "We can forget all the pain and suffering that something more could have caused us."

"Yeah, mom!" Serina beamed. "Even if you don't love each other anymore, we're still your family! You're still our mom!"

Alice turned her back. Anna took this opportunity to run up and hug her. Alice seemed surprised as she turned her eyesight to Anna. "Please, can we be happy again?" Anna asked. Alice thought about everything. She thought about how she killed Elizabeth and Anna. If Riba couldn't be forgiven, could she?

"I would like very much to start over..." Alice murmured. "But I don't deserve it. Maybe you do. You've changed so much. But I am still Alice. The one who killed everybody you care about."

"Not everyone," Riba corrected her. "I care about you, right? Besides, there's no better time to make a change than now. It's all up to you if you want something to be different. That's what I've learned, anyways." Alice turned to Riba, her expression was that of sorrow. She embraced Riba tightly, as if she was never going to let go. Riba hugged her back.

"Can we please be together again?" Alice asked. "I love you so much..."

"I'm sorry, but we can't. I have feelings for another," Riba sighed. "But I can promise you this. I will never, ever make you feel unwanted again. You are my dear friend, Alice. And I don't want anything to change that."

Alice embraced him tighter at this realization. "Ah- that's okay..." Alice whinnied. "I've made my choice. I'm going to change. For all of you."

Chapter 15: Burning Hell

** Present Day**

Riba's lost consciousness before he hit the building. Then, the man that looked like him set foot on the ground. The man was still uncomfortable making portals, and he had a feeling this one would send them somewhere else entirely, but luckily, it had sent them right where they wanted to go... well, two districts away from where they wanted to go.

"Here we are," The man that looked like Riba said. "Evangeline..." He noticed the limp body that looked like him that was lying on the ground ahead. "Ah..." He gasped. It was him.

"Um... does this mean we still get apples?" Marie asked, awkwardly.

"Riba?" Alice asked. "Who is that?"

"This can't be!" Riba exclaimed. He ran up to the body and looked over it. Sure enough, it was him. He had different clothing. Was this another one of his iterations? Everybody peered over his shoulder. How could he be co-existing with another him without knowing?

"This is another me..." Riba thought out loud. He guessed that with Len gone, her remaining magic must be going haywire. It was causing time periods and timelines to merge together, therefore creating more Ribas. "We gotta move... I sense the last memory fragment nearby... This has to be the one that reveals who's been messing with me."

"What do you mean, Riba?" Alice asked again. She was confused.

"Somebody's been traveling through time, trying to ruin my lives. I've been gathering memory fragments to find out who it might be, one might be here..." Riba said.

" I have so many questions..." Alice responded, putting a hand on her forehead. She decided to brush it off and follow Riba. They walked through forests, past houses, until they saw what seemed to be a fire in the distance.

"What the... A fire?" Riba asked. He was taken aback by this turn of events. Why would there be a fire here? Could somebody have set fire to the town? It seemed unlikely. Nonetheless, they had to investigate.

They tracked the fire down to the 4st District. It came from a quaint, two-floor house. The fire was much bigger up close. It was a burning red. Smoke emanated from it, making it hard to breathe. Riba, Alice, and Anna all recognized the home instantly. It was the house Riba lived in with his first wife, Elizabeth Addington. Why was it on fire?

Crackling and popping came from the house. A woman's scream pierced the air. Everybody covered their ears. It was absolutely blood-curdling. Riba took a closer look at the fire. That's when he realized. This wasn't an ordinary fire. It was hard to tell, but it was actually made up of multiple tiny flames. Sometimes, one would fly out of the fray, and out into the open, only to be consumed by the body of fire once again.

"Embers!" Riba shouted. The Embers in the group all perked up like dogs having their name called. "Uh... Not you! The fire is made of Embers! Red ones..." Riba knew the red Embers were hostile. They were dangerous to be around. Mario had told him the difference when he was still around. But these ones didn't seem hostile towards them. Somebody in the house was their target. Riba's heart stopped for a second. _There was somebody in the house._

Without thinking, Riba ran in. He clasped the hands from Len's contacts around him, acting as a shield. They were somewhat see-through, so he could tell where he was going. They offered a cool aura around him, so he wasn't burnt by the flames. He could hear his friends' screams of protest behind him, all mixing into one giant, booming voice. He ignored them.

Riba reached the top floor. The heat was beginning to penetrate the aura he was given by the hands. It was getting warm. Riba began to sweat as the temperature rose. Another scream. Riba nearly jumped. It was becoming harder to withhold the magic spell that gave form to the hands. "Where are you?!" Riba called. "Tell me which room you are in!" No response. Blast it. Riba needed to move!

Riba arrived at the second floor's dining room, where a silhouette of a woman appeared before him. The only things visible were her eyes and mouth, which burnt yellow. She turned towards him. Riba couldn't believe his eyes. Elizabeth.

"Elizabeth!" Riba cried. Memories began to flood into his mind. This was also the woman who appeared in his vision and nightmare all those years ago in the man's house, here in Evangeline. Her name was on the tip of his tongue.

"Abir..." Elizabeth whispered. She opened her mouth wide and let out a wail like a banshee. Riba covered his ears. The entire house shook, as ceiling tiles and floorboards fell.

"Agh!" Riba grunted as the sound subsided. The silhouette of the person who was once his wife ran over to him and attempted to open the gap between the magical hands.

"Let me in!" Elizabeth screamed. "I'll kill you! You unclean infidel!" What did she mean by that? She died before he got with anyone else. Elizabeth began to punch the hands, cracks appeared in them like glass. The air around Riba was getting hotter...

"Elizabeth! What are you talking about ?!" Riba attempted to make the hands tighten their grasp. "You died! I had to move on!"

"Liar! LIAR!" She wailed. The hands were about to give way. "I know what you did... Do not play dumb."

"I didn't do anything!" Riba cried. "Please stop! I need to get you out of here before we BOTH burn!"

The hands shattered into little pieces, which disappeared one by one. Riba's clothes caught ablaze. "AAAAAHHHHH!" He screamed.

"You gave her the lighter! The knife! The orders!" Elizabeth screamed as she grabbed him by the collar. The room rose in temperature. It was getting even hotter. Riba was about to pass out. "You killed me! In two separate lives, may I add!"

"I don't know what you're talking about...!" Riba grunted. The heat was getting to his head. "You... I..." Riba was struggling to keep his eyes open. Smoke was all that was in his lungs. He could feel the consciousness leaving his body. "YOU KILLED ME!" She shouted once more. Riba drifted into sleep.

He woke up. He felt very wet, as if water was consuming his body. He could not see. When he tried to speak, his lungs burnt painfully.

He remembered bits and pieces of a grand journey. It was all coming back to him. He was so close when... Well... He needed more time to finish what he started. He couldn't let it end like this. It needed to be completed. He needed Continuance.

A splash of water.

Riba opened his eyes. They burnt like hell. But he needed to keep them open to avoid drifting off into eternal slumber. "He's waking up!" Serina's voice called. Multiple shadowed figures gathered around him. It was still very hard to see. Slowly, his vision came to. Riba's friends and family were gathered around him, concerned looks on their faces. Riba coughed. Smoke came out.

"Riba!" Marie cried. She held out a hand.

"Marie?" Riba asked. "What happened?"

"You ran into a house that was on fire!" Serina butted into the conversation. "You scared us all!" Serina began to cry. "A bad woman was fighting you. But mommy got there just in time!"

"Alice?" Riba asked. Alice walked through the crowd.

"It was Elizabeth," Alice murmured. It was hardly audible. "She was controlling all the Embers in Evangeline to burn you alive when she found out you were here. I doused her in water... Then, she disappeared... I'm sorry... I know you have feelings for her." Alice began crying.

Riba got up, holding his arm. "You're wrong. I don't. I know it may seem that way, but it couldn't be further from the truth..." Riba smiled calmly. He turned to Serina. "Elizabeth wasn't a bad woman. Just a confused one. There's no such thing as bad people. Just scared people who do bad things."

Serina nodded, understanding Riba's words. Alice stopped crying. She looked at Riba. "After that, I brought you here. You were on fire. We had to douse you in water too. Sorry your clothes got wet..."

"It's fine," Riba assured her. "Come on, we still have work to do." Countless blue Embers floated over from the house. They had joined the party.

Chapter 16: Vertigo-A-Go-Go

They arrived at a big house in the suburbs. The door opened in front of them.

"Is it safe to go in?" Leo asked. He seemed unsure about this.

"Yes..." Riba answered. He stared at the doorway. "I've been here before. The last memory fragment is inside." He stepped in. As soon as he did, he felt a sense of warmth. Strange. When he had been here with Mario, it had been freezing cold. The sensation he got from this place had changed drastically over the years. It could very well be because Marchionne was gone. Alice had destroyed his soul when she left Mario's body, and when Mario died the Marchionne that lived within Mario's mind died along with him. Marchionne had no hope of coming back.

Riba wished he could make it up to Marchionne, because truthfully, he would've been all he had left of Mario. Even if they weren't the same person, Riba could sense bits and pieces of the Mario he loved inside Marchionne. He would never be in love with Marchionne, mind you, but he would at least want to preserve what was left of Mario. Besides, even with all the bad things Marchionne has done, he's as deserving of a life as everyone else. It hurt Riba deep inside that that could never be done for him. Riba saw a noose and a chair that was knocked over, just the same as when he left this place.

"Who's there?" A human voice asked. Riba jumped. He realized the door had closed behind him. Nobody tried knocking on it or breaking it down. It was as if they had disappeared. Riba froze, what if he had stumbled upon a squatter, what if they are armed? What would he do? An armed living person is immediately more dangerous than an unarmed ghost. He may not be able to reason with them. He could end up dead on the floor.

"You looking for this?" The voice asked. Riba felt a hand touch his shoulder.

"Eep!" Riba squeaked. He quickly turned around. He almost screamed when he saw the figure's neck. It was twisted in an impossible direction. This man could not be alive, though his voice was that of a living man. It had no echo, it was not distorted or wrong in any way like the others'. What made this spirit different? Then, he looked in his hand. There was a memory fragment.

"Ah- um, thank you!" Riba thanked the spirit. He touched the memory fragment.

He opened his eyes. Riba could tell he was inside the world of the fragment. The world projected from his deepest memories that not even he could access by himself. There was a man there, one who looked very much like the spirit with the twisted neck. The one who had found the fragment for Riba.

"I've come back from the survey run," The man said, holding a clipboard with a piece of paper on it. It had signatures from nearly every resident in Evangeline. "More than 90% of the citizens vote for Marchionne's public execution."

"Very good, Princeton," Riba said, he smiled calmly. "Tameron, bring him in."

A tall, muscular man with orange hair and a black suit dragged Marchionne into the room, arm around his neck. Marchionne was struggling to break free. He squirmed and kicked at the man, which only made him tighten his grasp. Marchionne choked.

"Okay, put him down!" Riba barked. Tameron dropped him into a chair. Riba walked over to the table that the chair was pushed into. He leaned over and let his hands catch him on the table. Alice walked into the room and put her hands on her hips.

"Oof!" Marchionne cried as he landed. It felt like a hammer. "Watch it!"

"Save it, Marchionne," Riba hissed. He was growing tired of Marchionne's annoying tendencies. "Today was your last day as a free man. The votes have come in, everybody wants you dead for what you have done to the town."

"You're lying!" Marchionne yelled. Tears flooded his eyes as he began to cry like a baby. "Aurora would never..."

"Oh, of course... How could I forget?" Riba snatched the paper from Princeton's hands and slammed it down on the table. Marchionne looked down at it.

"This isn't everybody..." Marchionne said, looking up at Riba.

"No, it's not," Riba adjusted his glasses. "And all of your supporters will be run out of town, or otherwise put in prison for life. Their voices don't count. The majority want your head."

"It's not true, it's not true, it's not true!" Marchionne screeched. He kicked around in his seat. Tameron had to restrain him. Marchionne spit in his face. His foul saliva splashed onto Riba's face. Riba smacked him twice.

"You insolent bastard!" Riba shouted. "You're acting like a child, and your breath stinks! How do you think that's going to help your odds?!" Riba flicked the spit off his face, and back at Marchionne. He sat there and took it. Riba walked to Marchionne's side and whispered something in his ear.

"I am not going to take anymore disrespect from you," Riba whispered. "Ever since I met you, you've been a loathsome swine. I'm going to put your head up on a shelf as a trophy, and feed anything below it to the crows. I hate you." Marchionne whined like a dog. Riba enjoyed it. He got up and faced Tameron. "Escort him to the catacombs. I will not be in this animal's presence any longer."

Tameron picked Marchionne up by the arms and carried him. His short stature was laughable in this instance. Riba muttered one last thing to Marchionne, facing the wall adjacent to him. "You will be decapitated tomorrow, first thing in the morning. Sleep well, just like your parents."

"Put me down!" Marchionne screamed, trying to break free of Tameron's hold. "Riba! I will get you for this! I will get you!"

Alice chuckled, as Princeton smiled at Riba. Riba looked at both of them with a blank stare. "What are you two expecting, a trophy?" Riba asked. "Get out of my sight."

"Aye, aye, sir!" Princeton saluted. He ran out of the building at a blinding speed. Alice simply waved goodbye and walked out.

When they exited the building, an evil thought went through her mind. She turned to Princeton, who was sitting down at a corner of the building, his hands cupping his face. He was sitting on top of his briefcase. Alice was in love with Riba, and knew he was in love with her too. Yet, she had seen the way Princeton looked at him. It was not the look of a business partner, or even that of a close friend. That was the gaze of an individual who wanted Riba. Likely one that fantasized about him day and night, thinking up sick and perverted fantasy worlds where it was just he and Riba. Homosexuality in Evangeline was considered a grave sin under God's rule. Besides, even if it wasn't a male person, Alice would not let anybody fall in love with her man and live to tell the tale. She had to break him before he even thought about confessing his love. It would be a favor in the long run, anyways. Riba would have him executed on the spot. She decided he would rather end his own pathetic life under her word than be killed by the one he loved so much.

"Hey Princeton..." Alice sat down next to him. Princeton looked to her.

"Yes?" Princeton asked. He seemed deeply troubled. Alice nearly smirked, he was in a vulnerable state after being yelled at by his beloved Riba.

"I was just thinking..." She continued. "I've seen the way you stare at Riba when he's not looking. I've seen it all. I know you have a picture of him stood up on your bedside table. Now tell me-" Alice saw the color drain from his face. He had been caught. "Do you love him?"

Princeton tripped on what he was going to say. The truth was, he didn't have anything to say. He couldn't deny it at this point. It was obvious from the way his face turned a deep shade of red soon after losing its peach palette. He was stuck. "P-please, don't tell anybody..." He begged. He got down on his hands and knees.

Alice thought of what to say next. She was planning on telling him what Riba "really" thought about him, that he was a worthless tool to him, and nothing more. That he was a disposable piece of equipment. With his hopeless feelings for Riba, it was possible he would take his own life, and Alice could laugh when she saw his corpse, knowing that another possible enemy was out of her way. Although, she knew... Riba would never love a man, right? Then she realized. Why should she take the merciful route on this one? The world needed to know the true suffering that would be administered upon any individual that dared love Riba other than Alice. She gave him a friendly smile.

"Don't worry, I won't, silly!~" She giggled. "Your secret's safe with me... Yet..." Princeton let out a sigh of relief. "... Don't you think you should tell him if you love him so much?" The red coloring returned to Princeton's face. He looked as red as an angry Wiggler, or perhaps an apple from the tree in the 2nd District.

"Don't be ridiculous..." He muttered, tripping over his words. "He would never- could never..."

"Sshh..." Alice lifted a finger to his mouth. "Don't worry. Riba is a kind man. I am positive he will understand. You have to have faith in the one you love."

"Ah-" Princeton seemed to be thinking. Then, he put on a trembling smile. "You're right. Thank you, Alice. I appreciate it very much. I'm going to tell him." Princeton ran to the door, and tripped on the grass, he turned to Alice with a silly expression as he got up, capitalizing on the humor at his expense. Alice giggled.

Moments later, he ran out of the building crying. Alice could hear Riba's shouting coming out of the building. Riba threw an object hard enough to break the window, aiming at Princeton. Princeton covered his head as the object hit him. He ran all the way back to his house. He never came back out.

Rumor has it, Princeton's parents found him the next day in his living room, hanging from the ceiling. He had taken his own life. Further confirmed by the fact that there was a knocked over chair right under him. It was not murder. Once the town found out of his confession, his body was thrown into a river, a river whose water was meant to cleanse him of his sinful sexuality and his sin of suicide so that he may move onto Heaven. Alice watched as the body floated off into the distance, as everyone left. Riba was the only one who remained.

"Alice..." Riba whispered. "I believe there's something I need to tell you."

"Yes, Riba?" Alice turned and looked at him expectantly, her hair waved in the wind. She squealed and laughed as Riba picked her up and held her in his arms, like he used to when she was just a child. He planted a kiss on her mouth, and she fell silent.

"I love you," Riba whispered as their lips departed. She stared into his eyes and smiled.

"I love you too," She said, as the memory broke apart like a window in front of Riba's eyes. As he returned to present day, he found the memory fragment in his hands. The spirit was gone. There was something strange about this fragment. It seemed to be twice as big as the others. Riba pulled them out of his pocket to compare. It was an exact multiplication. Could the spirit, who he presumed to be Princeton, have found Riba's memory fragment of the situation and somehow merged it with his own? Riba noticed something in his back pocket. It was a crumpled up slip of lined notebook paper.

It read "I love you."

The door opened, and everybody came spilling in. They told Riba how worried they were, and how they were glad he made it out safely. He was nearly shoved out of the house by a sea of curious faces. They were all asking so many questions, he couldn't keep track of them. He looked back at the house one last time as it faded off into the distance.

The group stopped in their tracks at a sight that gave them no surprise, but was a danger nonetheless. There was a trio of Ribas right in front of them.

What?

Chapter 17: Greebas, Creebas, Seebas, and Treebas

"Hey there," One of the Ribas greeted. This one had a single braid in the back of his head and a black suit. The other two were wearing trademark Riba attire, except one had blood on their shirt, and the other had absolutely filthy clothes, and no glasses. Their eyes were pitch green, blue, and red respectively. Nobody responded.

"Not much of a talker, are you?" Another asked. "Well, we can change that." He smiled. His smile broke into a grin, which turned into a laugh. "AHAHAHAHAHA!"

"Who are you?!" The true Riba asked. "What do you want?!"

"Excuse my friend, here," The third one said, smirking. "We are you, in a way."

"Well, he knows that!" Alice cried, taking a step forward. "But why are you all Riba?"

"Fine. You want answers?" He adjusted his glasses. "Let's start with proper introductions. You can call me Greeba. I am all of your sinful greed condensed into one being."

"I'm Creeba! All of the cruelty in your soul!" Creeba, the one with blood on his shirt introduced. "And this guy's Seeba, as he has seen everything, from the end to the start!" He was referring to the Riba who had dirty clothes, who was now baring his teeth like a maniac.

"Daddy, I'm scared..." Serina cuddled up to Riba's leg. He put a hand on her head.

"Leave us alone," Riba said, firmly. "We don't want to fight."

"Well, that's just too bad... Isn't it?" Creeba asked. "Because that's exactly what we're going to do! HA-HAHAHAHA!" He wheezed. They brandished their machetes, and all walked slowly up to them. They walked back at the same pace. Then, the three charged. Riba took out his own machete and blocked their attacks. He managed to knock them back a little.

"You're going to kill us just to save yourself? How selfish!" Greeba taunted. They clashed again, as the others stood behind him. "You know, I was thinking... Since you're the one and only 'true' Riba, you can be Treeba! How does that sound?"

"I don't have time for jokes," Riba said. He sparred with Greeba for a while, warding him off just a little. "But I'm not going to kill you!"

"I don't know, Treeba..." Greeba grunted. "It seems you don't have a choice!" They broke machete contact as Greeba swung at Riba. Riba summoned the hands to hold back the machete as he slid under Greeba, tripping him. He stood triumphantly as Greeba hit the pavement.

"I will make sure..." Seeba growled, as he took a jab at Riba, hitting nothing but air as Riba sidestepped. "...You stay missing!" Riba ducked when Creeba took a swing, a whistling sound going by as he narrowly missed Riba's face. After that, a flurry of easily dodged attacks came from Seeba. Riba kicked him, and he went flying into a nearby house.

It didn't make sense. How come there were more Ribas? The one back when they first entered Evangeline was enough, but these three? It shouldn't even be possible. And their eyes... Riba was broken out of thought as Creeba clashed with him. Creeba got him on the ground and attempted to slice his head off. But Riba reacted just in time. His machete met with Creeba's, it was the age-old power struggle for his life. He was losing. Riba heard dejected laughter. He turned his focus over to Greeba, who had gotten up and was now heading towards his cowering friends. The Embers set up a wall in front of them. No!

Riba got up, resulting in Creeba splicing his cheek. Blood flowed out as he ran towards Greeba. He knocked him out of the way with his elbow. He couldn't let anybody get hurt. Greeba went flying over to the grass. He got up and breathed heavily. Then, he smiled at Riba. Genuinely, this time. He gave Riba a thumbs up as he turned to dust and floated away with the wind. How?

Riba then remembered something else that Mario told him. Back in the church, during the Test of Envy, Mario had encountered what seemed to be the spirit of Luigi. But after showing him how much he cared for Luigi, he disappeared completely. It had turned out, this was not Luigi, but merely an effigy of him created from Luigi's undying envy of his brother. Mario had coined the name "Envy" for him. Could these be the last remaining morsels of greed and cruelty left in Riba's mind? But then... What was Seeba?

"Come back here!" Creeba shouted. "Die! Die! Die!" Riba caught onto Creeba's shirt, and stared him dead in the eyes, a scowl on his face. Creeba was confused by this, but then saw the legion of Embers heading his way. He smiled, and disintegrated before Riba's eyes. His cruelty had been overcome.

"AHAHAHAHA!" Seeba screamed. Riba instantly turned his head over to him. What he saw was... Very different from the Seeba he saw before. In fact, this man completely resembled the picture of Abor from the book that Rosa gave him. Could this be the same demon?

Riba stood in silence as Seeba stared him in the eyes. Seeba licked his lips with his snake-like tongue. "So you've finally destroyed all of your demons, huh?" Seeba asked. He bared his fangs. Everybody took a step back. "Except for him..."

"Why does everyone keep speaking in riddles?" Riba asked, impatiently. "What are you talking about?"

"You know who I'm talking about. Don't play dumb with me, Riba..." Seeba took a few steps closer until he was face to face with Riba. "He's coming, soon. There is no way to stop the inevitable..."

Seeba began to disintegrate slowly. "The storm approaches..."

Chapter 18: Raining Fish and Toads

Riba and his new team of friends, including all the Embers, sat under the tree in the second district. As he had promised Marie, they all feasted not on human flesh, but instead, delicious, juicy apples. Everybody was blown away by their taste and texture. "You're right, Riba, darling!" Marie beamed. "These are sooo much better than raw flesh! Why didn't I come here sooner?!" This seemed to annoy some of the spirits. They murmured bad things about her. Riba didn't respond as he bit into an apple.

"Riba, darling, what's the matter?" Marie asked. Riba looked over at her.

"Well, for the past whole day, maybe more since I've gotten to the mansion, I've been gathering memory fragments to find out who it was who was messing with my lives..." Riba swallowed the bite of his apple as he lie down on the pavement, staring at the moon. He got into a relaxing position, but still held the apple in the air. The single bite in it made it resemble the crescent moon as Riba held it up to the sky. Riba had once heard there was an entire three kingdoms up there on the moon, could it be true? "But so far, it doesn't seem like any of them have any reason, or way, to harm me. One thing they all had in common was that they all held memories where I hurt people. But they're all either gone, or in Alice's case, I've already made up with them."

"Perhaps it's over, then?" Marie asked, choosing to look on the bright side of things. "Nobody's left who has any intent to hurt you, and you found a new group of friends. Perhaps... We can all rest easy now, together." She reached her hand towards Riba's. He politely pushed it away.

"That's great, don't get me wrong..." Riba sighed, he closed his eyes and dropped the apple. "But if this is how it's supposed to end..."

"Hm?" Marie asked. Riba looked down at the ground, dejectedly. What Seeba said was getting to him a little.

"Why does it feel like something terrible is about to happen?"

A few minutes later, they were walking through the path that was supposed to take them out of Evangeline. The church had been smaller than Riba remembered from when he was here with Mario. Riba could have always opened a portal back home, but he preferred to take the scenic route and take it in that his journey was finally over. Although, there was an uneasy feeling creeping up on him. It was probably just tiredness from his grand adventure. In the end, he never found who had been doing him wrong. But it didn't matter, he decided. He would build his life back up from the bottom. Alice wouldn't do any more damage to him, and although he could never get Mario back, he knew that Mario was watching over him from the heavens above. As well as everybody he's lost over his countless lives. For a moment, he decided this is how he wanted to live his life. He was at complete peace.

A wet thud. Everybody turned over to see what seemed to be a body. Some screamed. It wasn't moving. The Embers began to panic and scurry around. Something felt like it struck Riba's heart. The body... It was him... Another wet thud. Same body. People were beginning to panic and run around. It was raining dead bodies. Suddenly, one hit Riba. He fell to the ground, and was pinned down by the body. As he opened his eyes, he yelled long and clear. It was Mario. He seemed to have a fish shoved down his throat. His eyes were vacant, empty, just like the countless other Ribas falling from above. Dead. What was going on?!

Everybody struggled to get the body off Riba. Mario could stand to lose some weight. Finally, they shoved the body off, and it tumbled to the ground. Marie reached down to grab Riba's hand, and pull him up. "Come on!" She cried. They all ran for cover from the bodies, into the forest. Surely they would get caught on the trees, right? Wrong. As they ran, bodies fell like Star Bits and exploded all the same. It was a mess of blood and gore. Riba's heart was racing. They seemed to all be either Ribas, Marios, Elizabeths, Luigis, Peaches, Yoshis, or even Toads. There were some Riba couldn't identify. Countless dead bodies fell from the sky. Nobody knew where they were coming from. All they knew was that they had to run before one landed on somebody funny and broke them in the process.

Riba suddenly noticed a cave up ahead. Shelter. "Guys!" Riba called out. "There's a cave-we can-!" Riba stopped shouting when he realized there was nobody behind him. They must have gotten lost. Riba headed into the cave, as a wall of bodies trapped him within. "No!" He shouted, dreading his mistake. He was trapped by the bodies. There were too many, he couldn't push them. He tried opening a portal, but no matter where he opened it to, he saw nothing but bodies. Some spilled out into the cavern floor.

Riba sat down and let the adrenaline fade away. He could hear more dead bodies hitting the roof of this mysterious cave he just happened to stumble upon. Riba put his head in his hands. Small droplets of salty water hit the ground as he cried. What was he going to do now? He had just pieced it all back together. He finally had his life back. He was right. His entire existence was just to suffer. Whenever he's finally happy, it all gets taken away from him. Why was he meant to suffer like this?

Riba began to walk deep into the cave. He planned on finding something, anything, that could take him out of his misery. Len was gone, so he could finally move on. He could die. Be it a sharp rock, big hole, discarded weapon or sharp object, he would take anything. He just wanted it to be swift. He could not let anything hurt him anymore. He had had enough. His friends were dead, the one person he loved was dead, he had nothing to fight for anymore. Was this what Mario had felt all those years ago?

Riba approached a pit. Thoughts of... Everything... Swirled in his mind, as he took a step closer. But it always came back to Mario. Mario, Mario, Mario... Riba wanted so much to just have him once more. But he knew it couldn't happen. The world was coming to a close as bodies filled all the space. He found it getting harder and harder to breathe. In some places, bodies spilled through as the weight had proven to be too strong for the cave ceiling. One Mario fell right behind Riba. He looked at the corpse. It had been stabbed multiple times. Blood and saliva pooled out of the mouth. He took off his glove and felt his hand. Still warm.

"Riba!" Mario's voice called out from behind him. Riba turned around, tears blurring his vision and clouding up his glasses. What seemed to be a vision of Mario floated above the pit. It was beautiful in Riba's eyes.

"Mario...!" Riba cried. He stared at the pit. "Mario, please help me! I'm so scared, I don't know what to do! The world is falling apart...! I don't want to die, Mario! Please, come back with me!"

"Riba..." Mario said, saddened by his friend's misery.

"Mario! Listen to me!" Riba shouted. Tears flung from his face as he faced Mario. "Why would you do this to me?! I was so happy with you... You left without even saying goodbye! You are the cruelest person I ever met, Mario!"

Mario seemed shocked and hurt by this. "Riba... please... don't do it..." Mario cried.

"Why would you want me to continue suffering like this?!" Riba asked. "You're sick, Mario! Please, leave me alone! You're dead, but I can't stop seeing you everywhere I go!"

"Riba..." Mario said. He floated in close and embraced Riba tightly. "You're everything to me and more. You've saved my life countless times, in more ways than one. This can all change, Riba... But first, you need to kill... kill... kill... kill me."

"What do you mean?" Riba asked. He felt he was getting somewhere. Hearing Mario say he was everything to him and more lit up his heart once more.

"Riba... I don't have much time left," Mario said. "I'll fade shortly. But you need to keep going. Riba, you have it in you to save the world from this threat. I know you can do it... because I-" Mario burst into many light-blue orbs. They disintegrated in the air as Riba tried to grab at them. All he caught was a big, red hat with an "M" on it.

"Mario..." Riba sobbed, he held the hat close to his chest. It was warm, and felt comfortable. This was all he had left. This was all he had left of Mario. Then he realized. He was holding this hat. Unless his eyes were deceiving him, which they likely were, that wasn't a vision at all. Could it have been Mario's ghost? Riba donned the hat. He didn't know why, but it just felt right. It was far too big to properly fit, it hung down over his eyes a little. If that truly was Mario... Then Riba couldn't give up yet. If Mario wanted him to keep going, as his final request, he would grant it. Yeah. He would find another way out of the cave. He would clear up the bodies, gather the remaining survivors, and start the world over once more. Even if it was destined to end in ruin, it was worth a shot. But what did Mario mean by killing him? Riba would find out later. But now, it was time. He was going to restart.

Chapter 19: In The Final

Riba searched the cave for what seemed like hours, but what in reality was probably just a few minutes. Time seemed to slow down when you walked these caverns. They ran so deep into the earth. It was possible that survivors of the storm could come back here as a form of refuge. Riba honestly had no idea how he would stop the bodies from falling, or where he would put them. It seemed this was destined to end in ruin. Eventually, no matter how deep they went, the bodies would just break through. Riba began to consider moving to the Moon Kingdom, if the bodies hadn't already made their way there. It might be safe. The tech was certainly available. If he could reclaim Bonneton, the air travel center of the Cap Kingdom, which Evangeline was in, perhaps he could get one of the ships there on enough Power Moon fuel to fly off to the moon, and maybe further beyond. He decided he would just have to hop from planet to planet and get as much out of life as he could.

Riba had heard Mario talking about some cosmic guardian named Rosalina that he had met on one of his many adventures at some point. Perhaps she could help with this. Yeah, if he could find her Comet Observatory, he could request her to renew the universe like a library book, as Mario said she could. This would all be over. He could live again. Perhaps, even with Mario.

Riba's plans were interrupted as he heard voices. No way... could there already be people down here? He slipped behind a large, jagged rock as two cloaked figures, partially obscured by the darkness walked by a fork in the path. They seemed to be discussing something in a language Riba couldn't understand. It seemed familiar somehow, like he had heard it somewhere before. As soon as he was sure the figures couldn't see him, he sneaked behind them and took to following them. He made sure to make his breath shallow and his footsteps gentle, as to not alert them of his presence. His heart was beating out of his chest, and he was beginning to get worried that his heartbeat alone would be enough to catch their attention. They continued to discuss... Something... This terrain was beginning to look familiar to Riba. That's right. Another thing that he couldn't quite make sense of. It seemed these were everywhere.

As Riba continued to walk, he eventually lost the figures as they turned a corner. Riba finally let himself breathe. They were gone. But this meant he had lost his only lead on wherever they were going. It might have been a settlement... Or even, based on their attire, some sort of cult. Riba began to have an uneasy feeling as he realized that whoever might be here may not be friendly. Helena, a witch who had wanted to kill him when he was in Evangeline with Mario, had said something about a cult near Evangeline. Just minutes ago, he had whole-heartedly wanted to die, but now... He had regained his purpose. One person was on his side, and that was all he needed.

Riba walked some more, and finally found out what this feeling was as he turned another corner. It was the same feeling he had in the dream where he was inside a cave, repeatedly having his head pushed down. Indeed, he was in the very room he was in in the dream. Except this time, he was able to see clearly. He saw what appeared to be a coffin. As he walked closer, he saw an icon on it. It appeared to be the face of Abor. His heart sank.

Was this the place that Mario was calling "Abor's Cavern?" He heard footsteps. He looked around frantically for somewhere to hide. The coffin! Riba picked up the lid and hopped in, being sure to close the lid as best he could.

"He's late," A voice said. Riba trembled at the sound of it. It was Mario's voice. Again. "A shame. I suppose the storm swept him away when Len's pocket dimension full of bodies gave way."

Riba nearly gasped as the footsteps came closer to the coffin. He closed his eyes and played dead. The coffin lid opened. "Or perhaps..." Mario's voice said again. He looked at Riba. His blue eyes were legitimate, it was the real Mario. "He's been playing with us again." Mario looked at Riba. He had a black cloak on... Just like...

A series of images flashed in Riba's mind. His time as Abir... The cloaked figure... It was...

"Mario!" Riba called out. He clenched his hand over his mouth. Mario grinned, baring teeth.

"That name means nothing to me anymore..." Mario said. "Call me Allecio. I have changed much, over the years, but you seem to have stayed the same... Riba..." Allecio's eye glimmered. Torches lit fire all over the room, revealing hoards of howling, cloaked figures with obscured faces.

"What are you doing?!" Riba asked, as two cloaked figures held him down. He was unable to escape. This was a very bad hiding spot. "Mario! Answer me!"

"Silence," Allecio responded. His evil grin turned to a dissatisfied grimace. "I will explain everything."

Allecio walked around the coffin, taunting Riba as one cloaked figure held his mouth closed. "It's been a long time, Riba, and I am not this 'Mario' you keep speaking of," He muttered. "You are on of many of the same person who, time and time again, has betrayed me. Killed me, even. I once trusted you, but I see now my foolishness to do so. I treated you as a friend. You repaid me by killing me in cold blood. Luckily, my subjects here in the cult found me. They nursed me back to health, gave me a second chance at life. Once they had found out that I was an acquaintance of yours, they worshipped me like a god. They ate my insides and spat out my great new form that you see in front of you. They have _made _me their god. When I remembered your betrayal, I set out to each of the different periods where you have lived. I ruined you. I ruined your families. You think it was Alice who gave your precious Mario the disease? Peh! It was me!"

"You're lying!" Riba shouted, his voice was muffled.

"Shut up!" Allecio barked. "You are just one of many Ribas I have seen today, with that wretched Len gone, I can finally rain hell upon Earth. And that starts with killing you, having you reborn as... ABOR!"

Riba grunted as he tried to break free of the cultists. Their nails began to dig into his skin. He knew what they were planning to do with him. They were going to do the same thing they did with Allecio...

"You're wrong! My friends will stop you..." Riba hissed. "They said they'd always be there for me, no matter what!"

"AHAHAHAHA!" Allecio laughed. It was the same joyous laugh that Mario always gave whenever he felt genuine joy. "Your friends... Such feeble beings. They died in the storm, and they won't come back to save you. Friendship means nothing at the cold, beautiful hands of death and might."

Riba tried to scream as they dug deeper. Blood was starting to flow and stain his clothes. This couldn't be how it ended. It couldn't. He closed his eyes as he tried to ease the pain. "Someone... Help..." Riba thought. He heard the sound of something flying through the air and the sound of bones breaking. Screams from the crowd. He opened his eyes. Two, giant, black hands. Like shadows. That's right. The contacts. Riba face-palmed, as he sprang into action. With the three cultists holding him down gone, he was free to move once more. His eyes twinkled and he held out his arms, as if on instinct. The hands stopped floating over the cultists, ready to strike, and went back to Riba. The cultists fled, tripping over each other as they pooled out of the room.

Riba turned to Allecio, who gritted his teeth and focused his glare on Riba. "Mario, please..." Riba said. "We can end this peacefully."

"I trusted you before, but never again!" Allecio shouted, he tackled Riba into the spot where the crowd was just moments ago. He unsheathed a ritualistic knife, and held Riba down on the ground as he plunged it into his collar. Blood spilled out as Riba took a sharp inhale. Already?

Riba felt the blood leave his body. But as it did, an unbearable force burnt within him. It hurt so much. More than the pain from the wound. "AAAAHHHH!" Riba screamed. He noticed his voice getting deeper, and gaining an echo. The world seemed to be getting smaller around him, as Allecio looked up at him. The blood stopped flowing, as the wound had patched itself up. Then, he realized. It wasn't the world getting smaller- he was getting bigger.

When Riba stopped growing, he found himself unable to control his body. He stood up, his head nearly hit the ceiling. He could only watch the events unfold as he stepped towards Allecio. Rage burnt inside him. Rage for his friends, family, all directed towards Allecio. He was the source of all his pain. Alice was redeemable, but not him. A part of him had decided that.

"Yes, yes!" Allecio cried, as he began laughing. "Abor... My pet... Join me! Let us show the others what betrayal truly means!"

Riba looked down at Allecio. He couldn't help but notice his own Boo-white skin, black, shredded arms and legs, and a giant, red crystal poking through his skin. It was glowing uncontrollably, pulsating in his chest. Acting as a second heart when his first one stopped beating.

"I'll end this... Now!" Riba shouted. His voice was that of a beast. It echoed through the empty caverns, making Swoops fly from the cavern's ceiling. He clenched his fists. He had become Giga Abor. With inhumane speed, his wings took him off the ground, as he sped towards Allecio. Allecio, surprised, jumped out of the way. Riba crashed into the wall. He tore a piece off of it and attempted to flatten Allecio with it. Riba did not want this- But he could not control himself! He didn't want to hurt anyone anymore... but Giga Abor was forcing him to.

"Waaahh!" Allecio screamed as he ran. Giga Abor smashed the piece of cavern wall onto the ground, Allecio was knocked over by the impact. He swiftly got up. He seemed like an ant compared to Abor, and a persistent one at that. Abor hungered for his destruction. Riba tried to reason with himself to leave Allecio alone... To no avail.

Giga Abor took a step forward. The ground underneath him cracked under the weight of his footsteps. He heard the sound of a stampede coming from behind him. He turned around, taking his focus off of Allecio for the briefest of moments, to see a swarm of cultists running at him, spears in hand. They made a war cry, and jumped at him. The spears did not pierce his skin, it was as if it was made out of solid rock. With a single swipe, he sent a dozen flying at the wall. They had almost landed on their spears. They did not have the strength to get up, and passed out.

Giga Abor turned back to Allecio, to find... He was nowhere to be seen! Giga Abor tore through the cavern, trying to find Allecio. He opened crevasses in the ceiling, from which corpses from the ongoing storm outside fell through. They rolled down the tunnels like boulders. Allecio, in his underground refuge, felt the bodies storming their way through the caves. He dodged them, but eventually was swept away by the cascade of carcasses. Giga Abor fell through the ground to a lower level of the caves. A gross squish was heard as he landed on the corpses. His eyes focused on one alive person in the mess of rotten flesh and withered bodies. Allecio. He made his way towards him. When he got his hands on him, he would cave his skull in and eat his soul for what he did to Riba.

"Stop this!" Riba thought to himself. No response. "I don't want to kill him! He's the last piece of Mario I have left!"

Allecio jumped up, and bounced off of the bodies to make his way away from Giga Abor. Giga Abor continued to pursue him, clumsily and slowly. He was making steady progress when he suddenly stopped. A huge fist had knocked into the back of his head. Giga Abor turned his head unnaturally to see humongous, black hands. Riba had taken control of them to take down Giga Abor before he hurt anyone else.

"Pathetic... Frail..." Giga Abor started, but was interrupted with a face-full of pain as one of the fists hit him square in the nose. He went tumbling back. He brought his attention to the hands and let Allecio flee. These took priority over that worm.

The fists attempted to swing again, but Giga Abor caught them mid-flight in his palms and fought back. It was a power struggle between Riba and Giga Abor. Giga Abor headbutted one fist, but let that take his attention away from the other. It hit him in the lower jaw. Green blood splashed out as a disgusting crackling sound was heard.

The walls caved in. More bodies. It was nauseating. However, along with the bodies, emerged an Ember. Then another, and another. These were all the souls. They dove into the ocean of bodies and brought out Alice, Rae, Leo, Marie, Rosa, Alfred, Serina, Anna, Mercy, Helvetica, and some more Embers.

"Oogah..." Marie groaned, as she held her head. She then realized what she was sitting on. She jumped up with a squeak of fear. "Goodness!"

"Agh... These Embers... They..." Alice moaned. "They saved us! Thank you, friends!" The Embers let out a war cry as they all swarmed towards Giga Abor. This brought everyone's attention to the titanic beast in the spitting image of their dear friend, Riba.

"What in the blazes?!" Mercy asked, she jumped back and landed on the wet, slimy viscera underneath them all. "Eww... what has happened to Riba?" The Embers turned green as they prepared themselves for battle. They had become Phantom Embers. They crowded around Giga Abor as growls of pain could be heard. When they cleared up and fled, Giga Abor's face was burnt all over. He let out a mighty roar as he swung at a group of Embers. Before he could land the punch, he was hit again by the giant hands.

"We need to help him!" Rosa cried. "He's unstable in that form, he can't control himself!"

"We need to stop him before he gets hurt!" Alice stated. "The Embers... They're burning him!"

"Please stop!" Serina cried towards the Embers. They did not listen. They were a bit of an annoyance at this point, always sticking their noses where they don't belong and interfering. But, the group could not get too mad at them. They had saved them from a fate of suffocation.

Allecio continued to run. He was no match for this beast... In his current form... He had a sinister idea. He arrived at the heart of the cave. There, stood a Mega Mushroom. He took a bite. Then another, and another, until he had finished it off. He then felt himself start to grow. He smirked.

Meanwhile, many floors above Allecio, the group climbed over mounds of bodies as they kept flooding in from everywhere. They needed to get closer to Giga Abor, maybe reason with him. Giga Abor's head twisted in an unnatural direction as he faced his friends. The color drained from all their faces.

"No! Stop! Don't hurt them!" Riba thought to himself. He felt Giga Abor take a step closer. No... No no no! This can't be happening! Riba had the fists take another swing at his own face. Giga Abor caught both of the hands and donned them as gauntlets. Riba had no control over them anymore. Giga Abor reached for the group of tiny people that were once his friends and family. He was ready to tear them in half and eat them for power. He hungered. Suddenly, the ground began to crumble beneath Giga Abor. Then, it cracked. Something was hitting them from below. The ground gave way, making everybody but the Embers fall. Giga Abor's wings could not carry him for long due to his size, and he fell through the ground as well.

Giga Abor looked around for the source of this madness. Then, he saw a cloaked figure that was even bigger than he was. It was massive. Allecio? Giga Abor landed on the hard ground beneath him. The Embers swooped down and carried all the spirits of the Aduraice family, including Rosa and Alfred. Giga Abor roared long and hard, as he jumped up and attempted to cave Allecio's big dumb face in. Allecio caught him in his gloved hand and slammed him down into the ground. There was a hole in the shape of Giga Abor in the ground.

Giga Abor could not sustain himself much longer. If he didn't get food soon, he would revert back to Riba. Riba himself would not stand a chance against Allecio. Giga Abor felt himself slipping away. He roared as he disintegrated into dust. Leaving a tiny, ant-sized Riba in comparison to Allecio. He had lost.

"Urgh..." Riba moaned. He was so tired. He felt he needed to pass out.

"No!" The Aduraices exclaimed. Allecio laughed.

"Is that it?" He asked. "I've wasted my time on you, Riba. You can't even sustain your Abor form for too long. What a joke." Riba grunted in pain as Allecio pushed him further into the ground. He was going to be crushed if he kept this up.

"Please stop!" Marie cried. Allecio took a swing at all of them, knocking them into the wall. They fell dead. Their spirits disintegrated into thin air. Riba couldn't hold it in anymore. He began to cry. Everything was falling apart around him. Just when he had everything pieced together, it was all falling down. He looked at Allecio.

"Mario... Please..." Riba sobbed. "I'm sorry for what I did to you. If we can start over-"

"Shut it!" Allecio shouted. "You ruined my life. This is your judgment day. You've hurt so many people, you hurt me. Now you cry when it all comes back to haunt you." Allecio pushed him further into the ground. Riba cried in pain. "Are you going to cry? Pathetic. I will relish your death, my remaining subjects would love a feast comprised of your organs." He pushed Riba further, further, and further. "There was once a time I thought of you as a friend, but I was a fool. You deserve this, Riba. You deserve every last minute of it."

"I know!" Riba cried. "I do! I do deserve it! Mario... Allecio, just do it! Kill me! I don't want to live on this planet anymore!"

"Fine. This is the last thing I'll ever do for you, old friend..." Allecio picked Riba up. He began to squeeze him. Riba couldn't breathe. It was so painful. He quietly waited and accepted his fate. He had nothing left to live for. Riba smiled.

"Mario... I-" Riba started. He then choked as blood pooled out of his mouth. His vision became blurry.

"Oi!" A voice called out. Allecio stopped as he dropped Riba. He fell to the ground with a splat as the life left his body. This voice... It couldn't be...

"Riba," Allecio said, displeased. He looked at the other Riba, which was standing by the hole. He looked down at Allecio. "Give up. Do you see now what I will do to you?" Allecio pointed towards the dead body of the first Riba. "You are powerless to fight me.

"I know," The other Riba said. "So I won't fight."

"Wait a minute... You're..." Allecio gasped. This wasn't just any Riba. This was the Riba that had betrayed him, left him to die. It was the one he was after. "You... I'll kill you!"

Allecio reached for Riba. But then, he watched him get further and further away as he shrank down. "No!" Allecio cried. "Not now! My powers!" He shrank down to normal size. Riba jumped down and landed on his feet.

"Mario..." Riba muttered. "What have you done?"

"Get away from me! Be cursed, witch! Die!" Allecio screamed, backing away. He knew what Riba was here for. He was here to finish what he started. "Don't hurt me anymore!"

"Relax, I'm not here to hurt you..." Riba's voice was soft, caring. "Look, Mario..." Riba knelt down to come to eye level with Allecio. "The world is falling apart. I don't think we're going to make it. So there's one last thing I need to say before I go..."

Allecio stopped panicking. He looked in Riba's eyes. "I'm very sorry for everything I've done. I did not want to betray you, but I felt as if I had no choice..." Riba sighed. "You wanted to be friends, you wanted true companionship. But I'm too much of a monster to give it to you the way you wanted. I thought you would be happier if you were with your loved ones, the ones who truly made you happy."

Allecio gasped. What was he doing? "Riba, I-"

"Mario, I just want you to know... Trying to kill you was the worst thing I've ever done. When the storm started, I found myself in this world that was somehow different... I came here looking for you, and saw somebody running into a cave. He looked just like me," Riba explained. "Then, I dug my way through here..." Riba hugged Allecio tightly. He began to cry. "Mario, please!" Riba cried. "I want to be friends again... I care about you, Mario! You're the only one who's ever been kind to me! You're my best friend. Please... Forgive me..."

Allecio hugged back. "Riba..." He whined. Tears fell from his eyes. "I'm so sorry... Yes, I will be your friend again!" He cried into Riba's shoulder. Riba undid his hood and stroked his hair to comfort him. Bodies began to spill into the hole. They both looked up.

"Mario! I-" Riba was covered by the bodies. Bones crunched.

"Riba!" Allecio reached out for Riba, but his friend had vanished into the swarm. Then, bodies fell on top of Allecio. He couldn't breathe. "I-" Black filled his vision.

Chapter 20: I Remember You

Mario opened his eyes. The first thing that occurred to him was that it was another day of the ninth annual Mario Kart tournament. Excitedly, he jumped out of his bed with a "Wahoo!" But he was held down by the multitude of wires and machines he was hooked up to. Right. Still hospitalized.

Mario's memory of the day before was fuzzy at best. He remembered he had a very strange dream. There was a haunted mansion, spooky ghosts, and music boxes. Luigi and Peach were there, too. He remembered someone else. In his dream, there was a man named Riba who was his friend. After they escaped, they spent two years on a farm together. Mario never wanted to wake up from the beautiful dream. Riba was his best friend. But now, he was gone.

Luigi had explained everything the day before. Apparently, Mario was attending the race in Mario Kart Stadium. There was a freak accident involving Donkey Kong crashing into Mario and sending him hurdling off the track. Everyone passing thought he was just taking a new shortcut. Mario had hit his head pretty hard on his steering wheel when he landed. He was out cold. People began to worry when they saw he never crossed the finish line.

Luigi was the first to notice. He alerted the rest of the racers. Donkey Kong looked guilty. He made frantic hand gestures and obnoxious noises to try to tell everyone what he thought happened. Nobody could understand him. At some point, Lakitu found a black cat meowing at a pit. He decided to investigate it to see if Mario was down there. He had scolded Donkey Kong for not telling them what had happened, as he was the closest to Mario when it happened on the video playback. Donkey Kong seemed annoyed.

Lakitu slowly hoisted Mario's kart out of the pit. Mario had taken an ugly blow to the head. Everyone cringed at the sight of the injury. Mario was immediately sent to the Cloud World Medical Facility. His first-born brother, Dr. Gulio Mario, was the head doctor there. After some different-colored pills and a touch of Super Mushrooms, Mario was going to live. Luigi wanted Mario to be home when he woke up, he begged Gulio to return his brother home. Gulio obliged, saying Mario would be fine. He gave them some medical equipment and sent Mario on his way home.

Mario had woken up shortly after. Luigi and Peach were in the room. They were both very happy to see him okay. Luigi told him the basics of what happened. Peach begged him never to do something so reckless again. When Luigi mentioned the cat, Mario remembered something else from his dream, a mischievous black cat who had a brooch fragment in her mouth. As he looked at the windowsill, he saw what appeared to be a black cat with mismatched-colored eyes. One was blue, another yellow. She had said something to him, but for the life of him, Mario could not remember what it was. She jumped out the window and ran into the open grasslands after that.

There was a knock on the door. "I'll get it!" Luigi called from the other room. He opened the door. Mario heard a familiar voice greet Luigi. They exchanged pleasantries, and Luigi asked him to come in.

"Who is it?" Mario called from his bed. Luigi popped his head through the doorway.

"He says he's an old friend of yours," Luigi stated, smiling. "He says he heard about the accident, and wanted to make sure you're okay."

"An old friend?" Mario asked. A glimmer of hope shone in his heart. That voice was familiar. Then, a tall man with dirty blonde hair, a tan suit, and glasses walked into the room. It was-

The man ran up to Mario and hugged him tightly. "I'm so glad you're okay!" He exclaimed.

"Oof!" Mario cried out.

"Oh, um... Sorry..." The man let go. He was as bashful as a Boo. "You're still recovering... I should be more careful."

"No, no," Mario replied. "You just startled me is all..." Mario was bewildered, though he tried to hide it. "Riba, is that really you?" He asked.

"I thought you'd never ask..." Riba sighed. He smiled weakly. "Mario... I'm so glad you're oka- Are you crying?"

Mario was absolutely bawling. "Ah! Did I hurt you? I'm so sorry!" Riba blurted.

"Riba! You're here! I thought I lost you! I thought you were just a dream!" Mario cried, as tears flowed down his face. He sniffled.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Riba said. "What's all this about?" He put a hand on Mario's head. "Let me tell you what happened."

Riba took a seat on a stool and explained everything. His adventure, Mario's death, the other iterations. Apparently, as Len's final action, she cast a spell on the universe to reboot itself to have everyone be happy. Mario would have never visited the mansion. Alice and all the other spirits were free to roam the world to their pleasure. Everyone's lives would have returned to the way they were.

"How do you know all this?" Mario asked.

"Let's just say... a little black cat told me..." Riba said. The cat from before hopped onto his lap. Had she been here the whole time?

"Here, kitty kitty," Mario said. He held out his hand. The cat licked it. He laughed.

"Mario..." Riba said. He needed to get something off his chest. The words had been squirming around in his mind for years. "There's something I need to tell you..."

"Yes, Riba?" Mario asked. He smiled towards him, adoringly. Riba gulped. He began to sweat.

"Mario... Since I've met you..." Riba choked. His eyes twinkled. "I've been a happier man. You've given me what nobody else has. You taught me to feel compassion. Nobody's been as kind and forgiving to me as you have been." Riba had recited the words from his diary. "Mario, I care about you more than anything else. So, Mario..." Riba hesitated. "I need you to know..." Riba leaned in and gave Mario a tender kiss on the forehead. "...I love you..."

Mario didn't quite know what to say. Instead, he just hugged Riba tightly. "Riba..." Mario started. He too began to choke on his words. "I love you too... I always have..." Riba felt his face get red, it felt like steam was coming out of his ears as their lips met as per both their request. Riba could not believe his ears or eyes. He closed his eyes and enjoyed the tender moment between them. He loved Mario. And Mario loved him. His life was exactly where he wanted it to be. Could this possibly get any better?

Or was it destined to end in ruin again?

Mario made a quick recovery after this. As the days went by, more and more people began to appear in the Mushroom Kingdom and beyond. Some even looked like Mario. Could these be the other iterations Riba was talking about? The only problem was that they all wanted something. An apology. Riba was right. He had hurt a lot of people, and now they were very upset. They did not want to fight, they just wanted to have an apology.

They had all come to the castle demanding something along the lines of that. Peach had no decision but to set up an event where Riba could formally apologize to each of them. There were so many people. The crowd was full of people waiting for Riba to say what he needed to say.

Riba walked on stage. He had a microphone. Speakers were set up all over the place. He seemed to have a case of stage fright. "Um... Hello, people of the Mushroom Kingdom..." Riba said. One could hear coughing among the crowd. "I am Riba Lakes, and I am here today to formally apologize." Riba looked at Mario's face in the crowd. Among all the other Marios, this one stood out like gold amongst silver. He smiled at Riba. Riba smiled back.

"Throughout my lives, I have done many terrible things..." Riba said. His voice echoed through the speakers. "I feel very bad, and hope that everyone will forgive me." The crowd went wild. They were all so happy! Marios, Luigis, Alices, and many more jumped up and down. Riba smiled. Everybody he had ever known was here. It was great.

"And with that out of the way, I am proud to announce..." Riba read something off a note. Toads participated in a drum roll behind stage. "... The 12th biannual Mario Party event!" The crowd lost their minds. It was a mess of excited, happy people. Just like Riba wanted.

Riba hopped off stage and joined the crowd, as many billboards, podiums, and monitors popped out of the ground. They all served a role in the party. "Riba!" Mario called. He and Luigi came running up to Riba. Mario jumped up and hugged him. "I'm so proud of you!"

"Woo-hoo!" Luigi celebrated. He jumped up and down. He struck a pose. "Weegee time!"

"He's not the only one!" A familiar voice said. Riba turned around and saw his mother and father. They were here, too.

"Mother... father... is that really you?" He asked. They hugged him tightly.

"Who else would it be?" Honey asked. "Bring it in!" A young-looking woman walked up behind her. She had long, blonde hair just like Riba's. She was towering over him. It was Koi!

"Koi!" Riba exclaimed.

"Riba!" Koi replied, she ran up and hugged him. What was with all the hugs lately? "It's sooo good to see you!"

"What about me?" Princeton asked, as he walked up to Riba. Riba nodded and smiled.

"Look, man... I'm sorry I let things get so bad between us..." Riba said. "I promise, I won't ever let it happen again."

"It's okay, I forgave you long before you apologized!" Princeton replied. "You're my friend, no matter what!"

"Riba!" Elizabeth cried. She came running up to him, arms wide open.

"Elizabeth!" Riba cried. He held his arms out to catch her, but instead received a slap across the face. The sound echoed throughout the party grounds. Riba rubbed his cheek, which had an imprint of her hand on it. Mario became very angry, with everyone else being very surprised.

"I cannot believe you!" Elizabeth cried. "You son of a bitch!" Elizabeth hugged him tightly. "I'm so glad you're okay!" Elizabeth began crying. What just happened?

From a distance, Riba could see Isaac and Evie Aduraice conversing about... Something... He had a feeling, things were going to work out between them. Riba was absolutely surrounded by his friends. Everyone was here. Everybody was talking happily to each other, people Riba never thought he'd see within five feet of each other. Even the Evangelistis had forgiven him! It was great that so many people were being brought together.

"Kanna?" Len's voice asked. This grabbed Riba's attention. There was Len, in her human form. She was standing by a girl that looked somewhat like her, who had brown hair. Was this the Kanna Riba had seen in his vision?

"Sister..." Len said, seeming oddly unenthusiastic.

"Aww... Not happy to see me? Here, I brought you a few presents..." Kanna whispered. She handed Len a brooch, which Len took and held close to her chest.

"The brooch..." Len said.

"And that's not all..." Kanna said. She pointed towards a black and white figure with a cloak, they looked like Mario. They had a tail, and seemed to have hands similar to those in Len's contacts acting as wings. Nobody seemed to know who it was but Len and Kanna, although Mario seemed to recognize them from long ago.

The figure seemed to meow happily. "SXTigJlzlGdvb2QgdG8gYmUgYmFjay4uLia=" It said, its words a jumbled mess of words and numbers. Then, to the surprise of everyone, it seemed to fade into Len. Len blinked twice, as tears streamed down her cheeks.

"Thank you, Kanna!" Len cried. She hugged her sister tightly.

Riba was so confused.

Before Mario knew it, he was free to kart race again. When he came home, 2nd place Mega Mushroom Cup in hand, he found a note on his bed. It read:

* * *

Dearest Mario,

I'm very glad I met you. I love you so much. I am happy that you returned my feelings. However, I cannot stay here. I've done so many horrible things to the people around me, and my life has a funny way of knocking me down when I finally get back up. So I've decided to run away. I'm going somewhere far, far away where I can't hurt anyone else ever again.

Forever yours,

Riba "Abor" Lakes

* * *

Mario ran outside. He ran very far. He ran past Goombas, Coins, item blocks, and more, until he found Riba. He was standing over a cliff, looking far into the vast, syrupy sea. The wind blew fiercely as Mario approached him.

"Riba!" Mario called out. Riba turned around to face Mario.

"Mario..." Riba gasped. He held out his arms as Mario hugged him tightly.

"You had me so worried!" Mario cried. "Please, don't leave me!"

"I'm sorry, my love..." Riba whispered. He knelt down and kissed Mario warmly. "I really can't stay with you. I want so much to, but I will only hurt you further in the process."

"I don't care if I get hurt!" Mario whined. Tears streamed down his face. "I love you so much, Riba! I don't want to be without you!"

Riba's gaze softened. He smiled warmly. "It's okay, Mario..." Riba whispered. "I'll be here with you, always. Even if you can't see me. I'll never leave your side."

"Please... Come back with me!" Mario cried. Some figures took form behind Mario.

"Riba, c'mon!" Marie whined as she took form. "Stay with the poor guy!"

Alice walked up to Riba and put a hand on his shoulder. "You've been through so much, don't you think you deserve to just settle down?" Alice asked. "Do it for Mario. He's given you more love than anyone else ever could have. He really cares about you."

Mario couldn't seem to hear or see the spirits, until they took further form and appeared in front of him just the same as living people. "Ah!" Mario cried. He was startled. Everybody smiled warmly.

"Everyone..." Riba murmured. He smiled wide. "You're right. Let's go home."

Mario smiled. He grabbed Riba's hand and ran home. As Riba ran, he felt a sense of weightlessness. Was it finally over? Rays of evening sunshine peeked through the clouds. He looked at Mario, who looked right back at him with the most joyous smile.

They ran back home, quickly. Mario collapsed into his bed. Riba kissed him goodnight. He turned off the lights, looking back at Mario. Luigi was in the hallway. "Ah!" Luigi cried. He had been startled. "Oh, sorry... I didn't realize Mario invited you in! Make yourself at home!"

Riba went outside, and put a piece of straw in his mouth. He sat down on a hay bale as a pure green-white Yoshi ran up to him and sat down next to him. Mario came out, moments later, yawning. "Riba, what are you doing out here?" He asked.

"I'm looking at the stars. They're beautiful tonight," Riba said. He looked up into the night sky.

"They are," Mario agreed. He looked back at Riba with a flirtatious smile. "Not as beautiful as you!" Mario chuckled.

"Oh, stop!~" Riba giggled. Len jumped down onto the hay bale in cat form. The spirits of the Aduraice family, now including Isaac and Evie, happy as can be, appeared alongside them and stared into the sky.

"You know, I've heard rumors of there being a whole kingdom on the moon..." Riba told Mario.

"Oh, there are three!" Mario replied, happily. "And I've been to them! Wanna hear what happened?"

"Sure," Riba responded.

"Well, it all started one day..." Mario said, his voice trailing off as Riba kissed him.

"Mario?" Riba asked.

"Yes?" Mario answered.

"I love you... Forever and ever..."

And so, Mario and Riba lived happily ever after. Riba even accompanied Mario on some of his many adventures. He realized there was a great, big world out there that he'd been missing out on all those years. Riba loved it. He loved everything. He was finally happy, and he owed it all to Mario. And himself.

**The End**

Acknowledgements

Nintendo: Owners of the Super Mario Bros. Franchise

Mario's-Friend9 and Team Ari: Creators of (Mario) the Music Box + ARC, many characters, and rightful creators of some select text. Love you guys! Keep up the good work! Can't wait for the future games!

My editors, for making this story just that much better.

Last but not least, my friends. You are all so important to me.

And you! Thanks for reading! Bye-bye!


End file.
